


Criminally Romantic

by Semper_Sehun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Author AU!, Baekyun just wants to play video games, Blow Jobs, Eventual Smut, Humor, Jongin is a dancer, Kyungsoo is a writer, M/M, Pining, Shy Jongin, Smut, bff sekai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:50:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semper_Sehun/pseuds/Semper_Sehun
Summary: Jongin didn't consider himself a fanboy. Fanboys were for idol groups, not for authors of crime novels.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So you guys decided on Twitter that I should post the Kaisoo AU first so I hope it won't disappoint. Shoutout to my beta reader Alex! <3

Jongin didn't consider himself a fanboy. Fanboys were for idol groups, not for authors of crime novels.

Therefore, as he waited in the queue that brought him one step closer to Kyungsoo every few minutes, he didn't think of comparing the fansign to those of popular idol groups.

After listening to the soothing voice of his favourite crime novel author for the past 90 minutes, Jongin was ready to finally talk to Do Kyungsoo.

It wasn't like it was the first time he'd gone to a reading by his favourite writer. Actually, this counted as the third time he'd seen Do Kyungsoo in person, however, he'd never had the opportunity to exchange a word with him.

Today however, this was going to change.

The moment he'd got the email notifying him of the book signing event, Jongin knew he had to go. For this, he'd even swapped shifts with Sehun at the grocery store in which they worked part-time to support themselves during college. His best friend had only chuckled when Jongin had explained the circumstances to him but there had been no doubt that Sehun was going to cover his shift.

It wasn't like Kyungsoo was just a great author. To be fair, that was the reason Jongin had discovered the 28-year-old writer. By the time he'd googled him though, Jongin was pretty much gone for him. It was a stupid crush, but the attractive writer had immediately drawn Jongin in with his round eyes and plush lips. Jongin was a sucker for plush lips. Coupled with the thickly rimmed glasses the author was often seen wearing, the man fit even better into Jongin's concept of a dream guy: smart, slightly geeky and great charisma.

Now, Jongin was waiting in line to finally meet him. Only a few people were left before it was his turn and Jongin could feel his hands grow sweatier the closer he got to the small table. As he took another step forward, Jongin watched as Do Kyungsoo signed yet another copy of his latest book "Black Pearl". He'd read the whole book into two days and by the end of it, he'd been weeping because the love interest of the main character had died a heroic death. Even though romance wasn't the genre of Do Kyungsoo's books, more often than not a little bit of tension, flirtation or actual love stories found their way into his writing. The detailing was one of the things Jongin enjoyed most while reading. He definitely wasn't a critic, but even he could tell that Kyungsoo was probably one of the best authors of their generation. In the course of the past year, his readership had slowly grown and nowadays, Kyungsoo was fairly popular.

Truthfully, Jongin had only discovered Kyungsoo's books about a year ago, too. Back then, Junmyeon had given him one of Kyungsoo's books for his birthday. It had lay on Jongin's bookshelf for about a month until he'd discovered it as he'd searched for a bottle of lube he'd stashed away so Sehun wouldn't steak it from him when his boyfriend, Chanyeol, came over. Having his best friend as a roommate wasn't always easy.

He'd gone to bed that night with Kyungsoo's book in hand and he hadn't stopped reading until the sun had began to rise again already.

From then on, Jongin had been hooked. It hadn't taken too long until he'd read through all existing works Do Kyungsoo had ever published. Now, with a new novel out on the market, he had soaked up the story as fast as he could.

The queue had moved on again. By the time he'd reached the table with Kyungsoo behind it, he'd be a sweaty mess. Maybe he should have agreed to Baekhyun's offer to do his makeup but in the end, it'd probably only be running down his face because of how much he was sweating.

When he'd signed up for the event, Jongin hadn't anticipated how bad his nerves would get. Maybe he should have brought Sehun, but having to deal with teasing jabs about how gone he was for a person he'd never met before wasn't really something Jongin needed when he was already on edge.

The queue had progressed so much that suddenly, Jongin was next in line. His eyes were glued to Kyungsoo who was smiling at the middle aged lady in front of him. The demography of the attendees at Kyungsoo's events normally stood at a higher age than Jongin's and the percentage of men was also a lot smaller.

The woman in front of him had just bowed to Kyungsoo again, and suddenly, he was face to face with the attractive, young man.

Large eyes fixated on Jongin's face and thick lips turned into a smile. "Hey! Nice to meet you!"

The heartfelt smile on Kyungsoo's face made Jongin feel light-headed.

A week ago already, Jongin had begun to form the words in his head that he had wanted to tell Kyungsoo. Now, however, everything seemed stuck in his throat.

"Hi..." Jongin managed to stutter. No amount of time would have been enough to prepare him for standing right in front of the most perfect man to ever walk the planet. The thing that continuously surprised Jongin though was Kyungsoo's nonchalance. He seemed so down to earth in every interview he'd watched, Jongin was seriously impressed. Even now, the man exuded a comfortable calmness.

"Did you bring a book for me to sign?" His smooth voice filled Jongin's ears and Jongin wished the other would never stop talking. Belatedly, Jongin realized that the author was expecting a reply.

"Oh, yes of course. Wait-" Jongin produced a book out of the depths of his bag and handed it to Kyungsoo. Their fingers touched for only a second but Jongin was certain that he wasn't going to wash that hand again for a while.

Behind the table, Kyungsoo's eyes widened behind his thick glasses. "Ah... You're the first one not to bring my newest book. Why did you pick this one?"

"It's my favourite." Jongin simply replied but  then figured that Kyungsoo might want a slightly  more elaborate response. "The way you betrayed the psychopaths mind, it felt like I was in that guys head. Not in a creepy way though! Just- it was very realistic." In the book, instead of writing only from the detective's view, Kyungsoo had included segments of the psychopathic serial killers point of view. It had created a much more vivid picture of the killer's mind and at the same time had served to portray his motives in the most plausible way.

Kyungsoo hummed. "I see. To he honest, it's probably my favourite book of the ones I've written so far too. So you have great taste." He'd placed the book in front of him and began to skim through the pages to find the one he wanted to sign. Once he'd found it, he looked up at Jongin again whose eyes were glued to his face.

"Really?" Jongin breathed. He didn't even realize that Kyungsoo had caught him staring.

"Yeah. Can you tell me your name so I can write something down next to where I sign?" His eyes were so bright behind the glasses Jongin wanted to cry. How could someone be that cute and hot at the same time? It was just unfair.

"O-of course. My name is Kim Jongin. But you can just say Jongin, it's okay. I just- oh man, I prepared something to say but now I'm really nervous." He took a short break to arrange his thoughts. Kyungsoo's presence really fucked him over. Still, he needed to at least tell Kyungsoo a part of what her originally wanted to say. "You're my favourite author and I anticipate every new work you release. Your writing is very detailed and heartfelt and I always get lost in it."

Right after he'd finished his rant, Jongin's lips clamped up so nothing more could spill out that could potentially expose him as an even bigger fan and embarrass him. To his surprise though, Kyungsoo only looked pleasantly surprised. The slightly wide-eyed expression turned to a smile when he looked down at the book again to finish his signature. The whole time Kyungsoo wrote, Jongin couldn't take his eyes off of him. His hair was a lot shorter than Jongin's own and while he thought that he'd probably look ridiculous with such a haircut, Kyungsoo really made it work. Lost in his trance, he didn't notice that Kyungsoo had finished signing his book. Only a nudge of the other's hand against his own could pull him out of his dreamworld.

"Thank you, Jongin. That really means a lot to me." He said as he handed the book back to him.

Instead of responding like a normally functioning human being, Jongin almost said 'You really mean a lot to me' but managed to stop himself just in time. Rather than that, he just nodded and smiled at Kyungsoo as he received the book. Once it was back into his possession, he felt the inexplicable need to cling to it as it was the holy grail. To Jongin, it actually kind of was.

"I'm afraid I have to move on to the next in line Jongin. Maybe I'll see you again some day? Please anticipate my next book." Kyungsoo's smooth voice almost sounded slightly saddened but Jongin didn't want to interpret too much into it. Therefore, he decided to behave like a decent human being in the other's presence for once and took a step back.

"I will- thank you!" He could say before a body guard waved at him to finally move on, leaving Kyungsoo behind at the table.

_[Sehun] how did it go? In what way did you embarrass yourself?_

_[Sehun] did you cry? Did you pop a boner?_

_[Sehun] I want to know everything_

The buzzing of his phone pulled Jongin out of his trance. After he'd left the bookstore, he'd automatically steered towards the bus stop without really thinking about it. With the signed book clutched to his chest, he got onto the bus. The whole ride home, he had a dreamy expression on his face and as much as he wanted to tell Sehun about it already, he wanted to tell him in person.

_[Jongin] I’ll tell you when I’m home_

_[Sehun] I want to hear it now though!!!_

_[Sehun] What if I’m not at home?_

_[Sehun] I know you’re probably dying to talk about it_

_Jongin snorted as his eyes scanned over the texts._

_[Jongin] As if you’re not home_

_[Sehun] Rude of you to assume that I’m home and don’t do stuff with friends instead_

_[Sehun] I mean I am home but that’s not the point_

_[Jongin] just shut up and wait till I’m home, I’m too lazy to type it all! Also I have to gush about how handsome he is in person_

_[Sehun] Instead of starting this bullshit argument you could have told me everything already!!!!!!!_

With a roll of his eyes, Jongin pocketed his phone because Sehun was technically right but a) he wasn’t going to admit that and b) he didn’t want to continue a nonsense discussion and c) he’d just spotted a cute dog outside the window that was thousand times more interesting.

A short bus ride later, Jongin was unlocking the door to their shared flat. Besides Sehun, Jongin had another room mate. It had been Junmyeon that had originally found the flat and had asked if Sehun had wanted to join him since he had two more rooms to share. Once Sehun had heard of the offer, he’d immediately told Jongin about it and that’s how they’d ended up living together. Even though they had separate rooms, Jongin and Sehun tended to spend their time in either Sehun’s or Jongin’s room together. After about a month or so of living together, Junmyeon had carefully asked them if they were a thing and both Jongin and Sehun had cracked up at the question. As much as they loved each other, it was solely on a platonic level. They’d made out while drunk one time and he’d even given Sehun a handjob but they’d both decided the next morning that they were better off friends. Neither of the two had ever regretted that decision.

Almost tripping over Junmyeon’s carelessly discarded shoes, Jongin cursed. If someone looked at Junmyeon from an outsider perspective, they would never imagine how messy the man actually was. While Jongin himself wasn’t the cleanest person either, Junmyeon just was on a whole different level. Sehun regularly threw fits when he spotted yet another tower of cereal bowls stacked in the sink or whenever he found another stinky sock in the hallway.

The sound of a voice reached Jongin’s ears as he made his way down the hallway. The closer he got to Sehun’s door, the louder the noises became. When Jongin pushed open the door, he found Sehun in front of his computer, yelling into his headset.

“I told you to fucking put the ward in the fucking bush, Baekhyun! You’re a shitty support.”

Even though Jongin knew that it was probably better to not interrupt Sehun while he played League of Legends with Baekhyun, he couldn’t wait until Sehun had finished that round. A look at the screen told him that they weren’t playing a particularly good game either.

Sehun squeaked hilariously when Jongin tapped his shoulder. Flinching, he turned around to glare at his best friend. “Holy shit, Jongin, you gave me a heart a- oh shit, no- fucking Blitzcrank!”

On the screen, Sehun’s champion was currently being pulled in by the opponent and stunned. The desperate hitting of key combinations couldn’t save him anymore, and soon enough, Sehun turned around to face Jongin as the numbers on the screen counted down the time he had until his character was revived.

“I died because of you.” Sehun’s voice was full of accusation.

“You’re champion died because of me, not you.” Jongin had got comfortable on Sehun’s bed, the book gently placed next to him. For a second, he’d actually hesitated putting it on Sehun’s blanket because he knew about all the nasty stuff he did there with Chanyeol, but his laziness won.

“That’s even worse. You have-“ Sehun glanced at the screen. “Ten seconds.”

“Oh come on, Hun. We both know that round is going pretty badly for your team.” As if to emphasize his words, the words _“Your inhibitor was destroyed.”_ Flared up on the screen. Sehun huffed.

“Also, I really, really want to tell you about the book signing event.” Jongin gave Sehun the puppy eyes.

In the end, Sehun started a surrender vote that – to his disdain – was accepted by the other players on his team. Once he’d disconnected from the group chat, he fully turned around to grant Jongin his attention.

“Okay, tell me everything about your favourite author, you nerd.”

Jongin let out a breath. There were a billion things he wanted to tell Sehun and all of them had to do with Kyungsoo.

“I’m not- okay whatever. I don’t even know where to start.”

Instantly, Sehun reached for the mouse of his gaming computer again.

“Well, if you need more time to arrange your thoughts, I could play-“

It took only one look from Jongin to shut the other up. “No, no, I’m good. Okay…” He started but then broke off again, feeling flustered. Just the memory of Kyungsoo meeting his eyes made him forget where he’d wanted to begin. “First of all, he looks even better in person. I know I’ve said that a billion times already because of when I saw him at the other book readings, but today I stood right in front of him! I never saw him up close and… I’m shook.”

A loud snort escaped Sehun who had reached for a package of sweets that was lying next to the keyboard. “What a surprise.”

“Shut up, I wasn’t done yet. Anyway, he is the most handsome man on this planet.” After a little bit of Jongin’s longing staring at the package, Sehun finally got the hint and held it out for him. Jongin took almost half the sweets in one go while Sehun frowned.

“I have to object to that, because obviously I am the most beautiful man and I guess after that comes Chanyeol. Your author can be third.” He said while chewing, snatching the sweets from Jongin again so there would still be some left for him.

With his mouth full of gummy worms, Jongin grinned. “You’re so romantic.”

“I know, I’m the best boyfriend ever.”

Stuffing another gummy worm into his mouth, Jongin made grabby hands at the bag of sweets again but Sehun only scooted away further from him on his desk chair. With a huff, Jongin gave up. “That was supposed to be sarcasm, but okay.” He almost dropped a worm into his lap. “Anyways, where was I- ah yes. So, he was insanely handsome and the problem was that I was sweating buckets. I hope he didn’t notice, ugh- what if he noticed and thought I was gross?”

At this, Sehun couldn’t help but laugh. “He hasn’t seen you eat yet, so you should be okay for now.” Catching sight of Jongin’s mock-hurt look, he hurried to add something. “I doubt that. You do get sweaty sometimes but for some fucked up black sorcery reason, it looks good on you.”

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment…” he pouted. There were only three gummy worms in his palm left but when Sehun caught the look in Jongin’s eyes, he quickly dumped the rest of the bag in his own palm before he discarded the packaging in the trash can.

“Take it, that’s as good as it gets…” He mumbled while teasingly lifting a worm to his lips. Jongin’s pout intensified until he averted his eyes, sadly looking down at the three pieces he had left. Instead of complaining though, he decided to continue with the story.

“Okay, so by the time I got to him, I didn’t even really realize that it was my turn. And then he was right there! Fuck, he’s so hot. His lips Sehun…” He groaned. “Also, he’s so cute. How can someone look that cute with his glasses on but also that fuckable? It’s not fair.”

Sehun’s eyebrows shot up. “I look cute and fuckable.”

Pausing, Jongin stared at him for a second before he shook his head. “You look mean and fuckable.”

“Still good enough for me.” Sehun grinned. A gummy worm was dangling from his mouth and Jongin already wanted to take back his words.

“Can we stop talking about you and focus on fucking Do Kyungsoo instead? Okay-“ Jongin took a deep breath. Why did this have to be so exhausting? “So I was standing in front of him and my mind just went blank. I couldn’t remember a fucking thing that I wanted to tell him. And then he was so sweet to me and I eventually managed to at least get some words out. I told him what my favourite book of his was and he said that that one was his favourite too.”

Sehun’s eyes grew wide and he cupped his face with his hands, effectively sending the rest of the sweets into his lap and on the floor. “Oh my god, you’re basically soulmates!”

“I know, right?” Jongin was beaming.

Bending down to pick up the sweets he’d dropped, Sehun fixated Jongin with his eyes once he’d straightened up again. “That was sarcasm, Jongin.” He retorted in a deadpan voice.

“Oh… well… Shut up.” Jongin had managed to snatch away some of the sweets that had landed on the floor before Sehun had got to them. “So we were talking and he was just so sweet. His voice is so hot, if he told me to call him daddy I’d do it even though I hate daddy kink. And that means a lot.” His voice trailed off for a second and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. “I hope I didn’t come across as a creepy fan. I was pretty nervous so my brain kind of worked on energy saver mode the whole time we were talking.”

Sehun hummed along as he listened to Jongin. When the other was done talking, Sehun’s eyes trailed to the book that Jongin had placed next to himself. “What did he even write in your book? Don’t they sometimes write personal notes to the people they liked? You should check what he wrote!”

Both their eyes landed on the book. The room turned quiet for a moment as Jongin reached out to pick it up.

“Actually… I haven’t even checked before. How the fuck could I not do that?” His eyes met Sehun’s. His best friend just shrugged, scooting a little closer again on his chair to get a better look at the book in Jongin’s hands.

“I would say I’m surprised but you’re still so out of it it’s surprising you got here in one piece.” Sehun told him with a twinkle in his eyes.

Instead of replying, Jongin decided to see what Kyungsoo had actually written. His fingers were slightly shaky as they skimmed past the first two pages until he’d reached the one where Kyungsoo had signed.

From the spot opposite of him, Sehun could see Jongin’s eyes widening as he stared at the page.

“Holy fuck.” Jongin breathed. He was holding onto the book so tightly that one of the pages was about to crinkle from the pressure.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Did he spell your name wrong or something?” Sehun leaned closer, suddenly very interested in what Jongin was looking at.

With another deep breath, Jongin lifted his gaze and met Sehun’s eyes dead-on.

“Sehun, I think he left me his number.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to update this last week already but uni was tough but now I've got a bit of free time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Sehun and Jongin were staring at each other, the book still tight in Jongin’s grip.

"He did what?"

Sehun’s voice filled the silence. It felt unnaturally loud even though the music of League of Legends was playing in the background quietly.

"I think he left me his Kakao ID. Or maybe his icq code..." Jongin was staring at the book again. His eyes scanned over the page, looking for a misunderstanding but if he was really honest with himself, there wasn’t much he could misinterpret.

"What the fuck, dude?" Sehun couldn’t help but laugh at the mention of icq. It took him only a few seconds to become serious again because Jongin getting his crushes’ number certainly hadn’t been on the list of things he’d expected to happen today. Also, Jongin looked like he was going through a small crisis.

"I don't even know, why the hell should he leave me his Kakao ID though?" Jongin asked. Of course there were several reasons he could think of but he didn’t allow himself to think any of them further. Sehun, however, was having none of that.

"Uh, why? Probably cause he wants to get into your pants?" He finally slipped away from his chair and bumped into Jongin as he jumped onto the bed next to him, almost knocking their heads together. Rubbing his temple, Jongin let Sehun glance at the book over his shoulder. When he was sure the other had read what Kyungsoo had written, he spoke up again.

"But why? I was such a mess." He asked Sehun who was still staring at the numbers in shock. Beside them, a neatly written “To my dedicated reader Jongin”. Judging by the look on his face, Jongin could tell that Sehun was already thinking of the best ways to post this in their group chat with their friend group.

Yet, Sehun didn’t immediately reach for his phone, instead opting to reach out for the page to get a better look. "Apparently a hot mess. Or he just has low standards."

Jongin sent him an offended look. "Wow, thanks a lot."

Too soothe him, Sehun wrapped an arm around him. Neither of the two really paid too much attention to the jabs they delivered to each other. It was just another way of showing their love. They both knew that all the insults weren’t serious and it just served to lighten up the mood most of the time. "You're welcome. No but really, maybe he's into you? Why else should he give you the opportunity to contact him?" He raised his brows but Jongin only shook his head.

"What if it's not his Kakao ID but a secret code that I have to encipher and it's a clue for his next book?"

With his face scrunching up, Sehun let go of Jongin again and pretended to clean his ears. "I will pretend that I didn't hear that for both our sakes. And now, hand me the book, I wanna check if the number is connected to an account."

Without waiting for a reply, Sehun pulled out his phone and started typing in the number to see if there really was an existing account connected to the ID.

"Hun-" Jongin was watching him anxiously. He wasn’t really sure if the dream that he wasn’t allowing himself to dream was going to remain just that – a dream – or if Kyungsoo maybe really had left him a way to contact him.

Beside him, Sehun sucked in a breath of air. "Holy shit, there's really an account with that number.” He shoved the phone into Jongin’s face. “Dude, your author crush definitely wants to bone you."

Because of the way Sehun was holding the phone, he had to move his hand a bit further away first before he could make out anything on the screen. His heart was pounding in his chest as he scanned the display. "What if he just wants to talk about books?"

Sehun gave him a deadpan look. "What if you stop bullshitting yourself and accept that he wants to probably fuck you? Why aren't you hyped yet?"

If Jongin was honest with himself, that was a pretty legitimate question. It wasn’t like he wasn’t excited, he was just slightly overwhelmed. He doubted that anybody would easily deal with getting the chance to talk to their favourite celebrity.

"It's... Too good to be true." He tried to explain. "What should I do now though? Just text him?" That sounded like it was way too easy to work out but it was the only thing he could actually do. Still, Jongin was uncertain.

"Probably." Sehun was still staring at the display in disbelief. Jongin couldn’t blame him.

"Okay." Jongin nodded. Sehun was right. There wasn’t much he could do beside texting him because he sure as hell wasn’t gonna call him. Even making appointments at the doctor’s sometimes made him feel uneasy so talking to his crush on the phone seemed less likely than humans inhabiting Mars. "And what should I say?" He looked at Sehun for help. His best friend, however, just looked equally clueless.

"You really suck at this." On Sehun’s computer screen, a message popped up. It was probably an invite for another round of Lol. His concentration was fully focused on Jongin though.

"I never said I didn't!"

Before Jongin could react, Sehun was already reaching out for his phone. "Give me your phone."

Of course, he couldn’t allow Sehun anywhere near his phone. There was no doubt that he had every intention to text Kyungsoo and he 100% couldn’t let that happen. "No! You'll just embarrass me!" He attempted to push his arm away.

"I would never! But okay..." Sehun rolled his eyes and gave up for now. Jongin was surprised by how easily he’d accepted Jongin’s wish. Next to him, Sehun had leant back a little but he was still staring at his screen. "Let's see... You should probably start out with a basic conversation starter, like 'Hey I just saw that you left me your Kakao ID! Is this the right one? I'm Jongin'."

Jongin wasn’t very convinced. "Isn't that too basic?"

"Well, you can also write "Hi I'm Jongin and I'll suck your dick if you let me" but I don't think that's the right way either..." A snort escaped Sehun and Jongin couldn’t help but grin either. That definitely wasn’t an option but the thought was quite amusing.

"You can only do black or white, huh?" He nudged Sehun’s side gently.

With a huff, Sehun stretched out his arms, eyebrows shooting up. "Do you have a better idea?" He asked and yawned.

Jongin didn't.

_[Jongin] hey it's me, Jongin. When I got home and found your Kakao ID I was rather surprised. I mean, this is the right one?_

Right after he pressed send, Jongin regretted it immediately. "What if it's not his account after all?" Big eyes stared at Sehun, who looked way too calm for Jongin’s tastes. How could he be so calm when Jongin felt like a freaking tornado was going on a rampage inside his guts? His hands felt clammy as he clutched to the phone, wondering if he’d even receive a reply.

"Shut up and let me look at your screen as well." Sehun had placed his chin on his shoulder again, an arm sneaking around his waist. Cuddling wasn’t unnormal for them and in this moment, it helped Jongin to relax. Somehow, Sehun always knew what helped him to calm down in every situation.

Sending Sehun a quick smile, he turned his head again to look at the screen. His eyes grew wide when he opened the chat. "Oh my god he's typing."

_[Kyungsoo] well, if your trying to contact an author named Kyungsoo it definitely wasn't a misunderstanding_

Jongin almost squealed. "Holy fuck it's really him, I'm gonna hyperventilate."

By now, even Sehun looked shocked. "You don't have time for that, you need to reply!" He urged him, suddenly looking a lot more excited too.

With his fingers hovering over the display, Jongin stilled. "But what should I write?"

An annoyed sound ripped from Sehun’s throat, followed by an eyeroll. "Give me your phone!" He suddenly demanded.

However, there was no way Jongin was going to do that. "No!" He immediately shook his head. Sehun wasn’t having any of it though.

"Give me-" he started and reached out for his phone again. Instantly, Jongin tried to push his hand away but this time Sehun wasn’t giving up so easily.

"I said -" Jongin whined when Sehun still didn’t stop grabbing at his phone. He already had his hand halfway wrapped around his wrist, his left hand coming up to take the phone from him.

"Just for a second-" Sehun insisted, not willing to give up just yet. With both of them not wanting to back down, a small fight over the phone broke out that was only interrupted when Jongin managed to push Sehun far enough away from him to get a glance at the screen.

_[Jongin] ashozwdlozewdbiozssvloitvnii_

While they’d fought over the phone, the screen had had to be unlocked. Jongin wanted to cry.

"Oh god, look at what you did, now he'll think I'm stupid as fuck. Or insane."

Next to him, Sehun had managed to sit up again. "Shit- but I mean it's not wrong." He pointed out, another sly grin on his lips. Jongin only whined.

_[Kyungsoo] are you okay?_

A message popped up on the screen. Jongin, who still felt incredibly embarrassed, just stared at the screen in despair.

"Just tell him you dropped your phone or something." Sehun nudged his side softly when Jongin didn’t show any signs of replying. As if he was pulled out of a trance, Jongin started typing.

_[Jongin] ugh sorry I didn’t mean to write that... I thought it was locked and I put it into my pocket but I guess it wasn’t_

Beside him, Sehun was impressed. "That's a pretty good white lie."

"I hope he believes it." Jongin sent him a glare. After all, it was kind of Sehun’s fault that he was in that situation in the first place.

_[Kyungsoo] okay I was confused for a moment_

On one hand, Jongin was relieved that Kyungsoo didn’t seem too weirded out and that he’d apparently bought the lie. On the other hand, the message didn’t give much room to reply. "What should I write now? He doesn't use emojis, it's weird!" In the end, he managed to type a reply without Sehun’s help though.

_[Jongin] I'm wondering, why did you leave me your Kakao ID? Cause I doubt you do that with all your fans..._

"Was that rude? Or too bold?" He asked after he’d pressed send.

"I don't think so. It's a legitimate question."

Apparently, Sehun was right because Kyungsoo didn’t seem offended at all.

_[Kyungsoo] you're right, I don't usually do that_

_[Kyungsoo] and I'm honestly not even sure what made me do that but I guess it's because you seemed very interesting to me._

_[Kyungsoo] also, you seemed very interested_ in _me_

Jongin’s heart began to pound harder again. Especially the last message sounded a lot like flirting. Sehun seemed to agree. "Dude, he's flirting with you. He's totally flirting with you. My bro is gonna get laid!" Sehun grinned at him.

"Shut up." He whined but secretly enjoyed it that Sehun thought that Kyungsoo was flirting with him too. "But do you really think he's flirting?" He wanted to hear it again.

Without hesitation, Sehun nodded. "I'm pretty sure."

"Damn... How should I reply to that though?" When he’d texted Kyungsoo at first, he hadn’t thought he’d ever come this far.

"Maybe just be honest? I don't know." At this point, Sehun seemed a little lost too. Jongin frowned.

"Wow, thanks for the great advice."

He ended up typing a reply on his own, Sehun just watching behind his back.

_[Jongin] what if I was?_

"You're playing along, I'm impressed." Sehun had reached for his own phone but his eyes were still trained on Jongin’s screen. Even though Jongin knew that people often thought of him as attractive and tried to chat him up, he rarely ever gave out his number and almost never went on dates.

"I hope he's the one who's impressed." He sighed. For the first time in a while, Jongin felt like he wanted to impress himself. It wasn’t like he was not interested in a relationship. It just took him a while to get used to people. Falling in love or even having a crush didn’t come as easy for him as it seemed to for the people around him. Up until a few months ago, it hadn’t really bothered him but lately he’d wondered if maybe he just wasn’t good at this whole relationship stuff. At the same time, Jongin didn’t really have interest in casual flings. It was really a pity.

_[Kyungsoo] I don't know, I thought we could maybe have dinner sometime or so_

_[Kyungsoo] we could talk about books and other things. You know a lot more about me than I know about you. Don't you think that's a little unfair?_

Sehun had finished scanning the message even before Jongin. "Shit. He's really going for it." He commented, fumbling with his own phone. Ever since he’d started dating Chanyeol a year ago, he was clinging to his phone even more than he had before already. Back then when he’d started texting with Chanyeol who he’d met at a party, him and Jongin had sat together in front of Sehun’s phone pretty similarly to this time.

_[Jongin] Having dinner with you sounds really good honestly_

_[Jongin] I never expected that to happen but I'm definitely not complaining!_

_[Jongin] and well, what do you want to know?_

Even though he sounded confident in his messages, Jongin didn’t feel like it. Still, texting didn’t stress him out as much anymore as it did in the beginning of the conversation.

It seemed like Sehun could sense it. "You know, I think you can handle this from here on. I promised Baekhyun to play a few more games so he can level up and I want to see if I can buy a new skin for Ahri." After glancing at his phone which apparently had no new messages from Chanyeol, he directed his attention at his computer instead. Jongin couldn’t really blame him though.

"I'll ask for help if I feel like a dumbass again." He smiled at his friend who’d already gotten up to settle at his desk again. Sehun gave him a thumbs up.

"Sure, keep me updated. There are snacks in my bedside drawer. Please ignore the weirdly flavored condoms, Chanyeol wanted to try them." He grinned at Jongin before he put on the headphones, diving back into a heated conversation in their group chat for another round of League of Legends.

Jongin watched him enter the game until his phone buzzed again.

_[Kyungsoo] just anything, really. I liked the way you talked about my books_

_[Kyungsoo] to be honest, I'm not the guy for texting though. I think it's a hassle. I'd rather talk in person. Is that a problem?_

To Jongin, it seemed kind of ironic. An author that didn’t enjoy writing? It sounded wrong, but at the same time he figured that writing a story wasn’t anything like a simple text conversation. Additionally, he couldn’t even blame him. Most of the time, Jongin’s phone was either out of battery, turned on silent or he’d simply forgotten it in his room. He really wasn’t a guy for texting either.

_[Jongin] no, not at all!_

_[Jongin] do you have a time or date in mind already?_

_[Jongin] I have time whenever you do!_

Shit, that probably sounded too eager. Jongin grimaced at himself as he waited for the reply. If he kept writing shit like that, the author would probably change his mind about him more quickly than he could spell his own name.

However, Kyungsoo apparently didn’t really care.

_[Kyungsoo] yeah? Well that's good. What about Saturday? At 8?_

Scanning his schedule in his mind, Jongin realized that he had the night off from his part-time shop. With a smile on his face he typed his reply as a feeling of excitement churned in his guts.

_[Jongin] Saturday sounds brilliant!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it, I would really appreciate it if you left a comment or Kudos. I know this chapter wasn't too long, but in the next one there'll be a lot more happening! If you're interested in my WIPs or some sneak peeks for this fic, you can follow me on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper). Also, here's a new [moodboard](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1099004594213056513) for the fic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while, life kept me busy once again but here comes chapter 3!

"Don't you think I look like I'm trying too hard?"

Jongin was staring at himself in the mirror, examining his outfit. In less than an hour, he was supposed to meet up with Kyungsoo and he was beyond nervous. The days leading up to the date, he’d somewhat successfully attempted to suppress his nerves, but now, he couldn’t stop checking his appearance and freaking out over every single detail.

Beside him, Sehun clicked is tongue.

"Not at all. The turtle neck looks sophisticated but hot. Okay, maybe the pants are a little tight but it looks hot so it's worth it. Don't worry so much!" He slapped Jongin’s butt affectionately and then proceeded to fix a strand of hair that had slipped out of place.

Still, Jongin whined. "That's easy for you to say."

With a roll of his eyes, Sehun stepped away and admired Jongin’s reflection in the mirror. "Come on..  you've been texting him, right? And you said he seemed interested yourself! It'll be awesome!" He said, leaning closer to fix his own hair while he was at it.

"Maybe you're right..." It wasn’t like he thought that Kyungsoo wasn’t somewhat interested. He’d left him his number after all and their texting had gone considerable well over the past few days. Even though Kyungsoo had said that he didn’t really enjoy texting, he’d still replied to every single text Jongin had sent him and he didn’t seem annoyed either.

Every buzz of his phone had made his heart flutter just a tiny bit.

"Of course I'm right." Sehun had settled on Jongin’s bed, back to staring at his phone. Earlier, he’d helped Jongin with picking out the outfit and doing his hair, which he was very grateful for. It wasn’t like Jongin wasn’t confident in his own taste, he always liked to get a second opinion on it and Sehun was a self-proclaimed expert on fashion (and Jongin secretly agreed but would never admit it) so he’d advised him while they searched through Jongin’s closet.

When Jongin checked his own phone, his eyes grew wide.

"Shit, I'm late! I can't miss that bus!" He cursed, quickly turning around to grab his purse and jacket. The restaurant they were meeting at was in another part of the city and he wanted to take an earlier bus in case the later one got stuck in traffic. There was no way he was going to late for this date.

From where he was lounging on Jongin’s bed, Sehun looked up from his phone just when Jongin had shrugged on his jacket. "You should update us how it went. Like, sneak your phone to the toilet and text me." Like almost every second day in the week, Chanyeol was going to come over to stay with Sehun for the night.

"Also, try to take a sneaky picture of him." Sehun added.

However, there was no way Jongin was going to do that.

“No way. He’s going to think I’m a creep.” He quickly shook his head, already halfway out of the door.

"Use protection!" Sehun yelled after him and Jongin could hear him laughing on his way down the hallway to put on his shoes.

"Shut up, Sehun." He yelled right back.

"I love you too, Nini." Behind him, Sehun had followed him into the hallway, now leaning against the door to his own room. He waved goodbye as he watched Jongin disappear through the door.

 

 

As expected, Jongin arrived way too early at the restaurant so he headed to the closest shop and strolled through the aisles until it was time to head back outside to check if Kyungsoo was there.

To his surprise, he actually was.

Even from the distance, Jongin had to stop himself from swooning. Even though Kyungsoo looked a lot smaller than he remembered – but then, he’d only seen him sitting up close after all – he looked insanely attractive to him. Just like during the book signing event, he was wearing his thickly rimmed glasses, but this time he had his hair styled up a little and it had Jongin short of breath.

To his relief, Kyungsoo wasn’t wearing a suit because Jongin had been really worrying if his outfit would be too casual. Instead, the author was wearing simple black jeans, a admittedly expensive looking jacket and a dress shirt.

Jongin had to stop himself from drooling.

"Hey..." He’d reached the man. It seemed like Kyungsoo hadn’t noticed him at first, because his large eyes widened when Jongin suddenly stood in front of him. A bright smile spread on his lips and Jongin wanted to cry.

"Hi!” Kyungsoo beamed at him. “Should we go inside?"

Somehow, Jongin managed a reply without making a complete fool out of himself. "Yes, sure."

Following Kyungsoo inside, he waited behind him as the other talked to the waiter.

"I booked a table for two." He politely told the man that then led them to their table. It was in a more secluded area and Jongin was pretty sure that he’d never stepped foot in such a fancy restaurant before. Suddenly, he felt just a tiny bit inadequate.

"Thank you." Kyungsoo was just telling the waiter who then disappeared, leaving the two to themselves.

Without hesitation, Kyungsoo offered a chair to Jongin and waited for him to sit down before he sat down himself.

"Did you get here without any problems? Traffic was awful this evening." Kyungsoo was directly looking into his eyes, and Jongin had to force himself to not look away.

"Uh, I don't have a car so I took the bus. So yeah..." He trailed off and blushed.

The smile Kyungsoo sent him made him feel a little less stupid. "That makes sense. You said you're a student, right?"

Through texts, they’d talked about what they were doing professionally and in their free time so Jongin had told him that he was a student at university already. It pleased him that Kyungsoo remembered.

"Yes, exactly. I'm at the university for performing arts and I'm studying to become a professional dancer." He nodded.

"You said ballet, right?"

Kyungsoo was still looking at him and Jongin had a hard time not staring at his sinful lips instead of his eyes. "Yep. But in my free time I like to dance hip hop or contemporary."

If Jongin wasn’t totally off, Kyungsoo looked impressed. "Fair enough. How long have you been dancing- ah thank you."

The waiter had returned to their table and was handing them the menus so they had to interrupt their conversation for a moment.

"Would you like to have some wine?" The man asked, sending them polite smiles.

"Jongin?" Kyungsoo was once again looking at him, obviously waiting for his reply.

"Uh, sure." Jongin said without thinking. He didn’t even really like wine, but it felt appropriate for the situation.

"Yes, please. Red wine?"

Jongin nodded because at this point, it didn’t really matter anymore.

After the waiter had left, they resumed their conversation while scanning the menu.

"I started dancing in primary school already. My dad was the reason I tried to pursue it as a career though. Without his support, I might have gone into a different direction." Jongin explained while he took a look at the starters. Just the price of the cheapest starter was making him a little uneasy. Thank god, he’d picked some extra money before he’d left.

"It's good that your father supported you. What else would you have considered doing though?" Kyungsoo was looking through the menu too, but Jongin felt like Kyungsoo already knew what he was going to order. In his texts, Kyungsoo had explained that he’d been to that restaurant quite a lot and really liked it.

To distract himself from the prices, Jongin decided to focus on the conversation instead. "Honestly... I don't know. If I couldn't dance, I'd be really- I just don't know what I'd do. So to be honest, I'm just glad that it worked out."

Kyungsoo was quite for a moment while he scanned the menu. When he looked up, he sent Jongin a small smile. "That's... Relatable. Without writing, I'd feel lost too, I think."

The honest answer took Jongin by surprise. "When did you start writing? Or why?"

"When I was 15, I was having a bit of a crisis. It always helped me to soothe my feelings at the time and it still does." Putting the menu down, Kyungsoo seemed like he wanted to add something but then decided against it.

Jongin wondered what kind of crisis that had been but it was their first date and he figured that Kyungsoo would have elaborated if he'd wanted to talk about it. “Finding a hobby can really be grounding then." He said instead, not wanting to appear to be invasive even though he really wanted to know.

Thankfully, the waiter returned and took their orders. Jongin ordered a dish on the cheaper side but it sounded pretty delicious either way and he didn’t want to have a bad conscious for splurging so much money on just one meal. He was just a student with a job at a grocery store, after all.

"I wasn't sure if you were going to text me, you know?" Kyungsoo spoke up the moment the waiter had left.

"Really, why?" That certainly wasn’t something Jongin had expected Kyungsoo to say.

A chuckle left the other’s lips. "I didn't want to come off as a creep. I don't usually just hand out my number."

_ ‘How ironic’ _ , Jongin thought. "That's funny cause I really was scared of coming off as a creep too. Cause I'm like... A fan, you know? Of your writing."

Kyungsoo nodded, a small smile still on his lips. "Yeah, I probably should have been more worried about that too..."

"But you weren't?" That was something Jongin really had been wondering about. What had made Kyungsoo trust in him to not be a creepy fan?

"I wasn't. You didn't really seem creepy. That isn't a great argument, which I know, believe me - I mean I write crime novels after all and I do my research - but I just had this feeling. And so far, you haven't disappoint me."

Much to his relief, the waiter had brought them their wine when he’d taken their food orders so now Jongin could gulp down his wine while he tried to stomach Kyungsoo’s reply. It made him feel like a teenage school girl and he wasn’t ashamed of it.

"Well, if you say so, I believe you. You're the one who's probably good at character judgement. Do you sometimes base characters on people you know?" He asked, trying to distract from the topic a little because he wasn’t sure if his heart could deal with much more of Kyungsoo’s sweet words.

From then on, conversation came easyily. After their food had arrived, they chatted about this and that. Kyungsoo explained how he usually didn’t like to spend too much money on luxury articles but when it came to food, he didn’t mind spending more money. Jongin also learned that Kyungsoo apparently really liked to cook which he thought was downright adorable. In return, Jongin told Kyungsoo about his three dogs that lived with his parents and how he sometimes recorded dance videos with Sehun and put them on Youtube. At that point, Kyungsoo even requested seeing one and with a red face, Jongin had shown him their latest video. When Kyungsoo had praised him, he had felt embarrassed but also deeply pleased. While they’d talked, Jongin had continuously put his hand next to Kyungsoo’s in the hopes that the other was going to reach for it but it never happened.

"Holy shit, I didn't realize it was so late already." Kyungsoo had checked his watch and realized that quite a lot of time had passed already.

"What time is it?" Jongin asked and checked his phone. The clock read ten past ten. "Oh.. me neither." He replied. They’d met up at six and it definitely hadn’t felt like four hours had passed already.

"Should we maybe ask for the bill?" Kyungsoo asked, and even though Jongin didn’t want their date to end, it was probably what they should do.

"Yes, that's a good idea." He agreed.

When the waiter returned with the bill, Kyungsoo spoke up before Jongin could say anything.

"I'll pay for both of us" He told the man, his wallet already in his hand.

"You don't have to-" Jongin immediately interrupted. Even though he felt honoured, he didn’t want Kyungsoo to feel obligated to pay for him.

Once again, Kyungsoo just shot him a smile "I know, but I want to." He explained. "Next time, you can pay."

And honestly, Jongin couldn’t really say no to that. "Next time?" He croaked.

"Well, I was hoping there'd be a next time?" Suddenly, Kyungsoo looked a little uncertain so Jongin hurried to reply.

"Oh! Yes, definitely." He nodded energetically. "I mean, I'd like that!"

Laughter bubbled up in Kyungsoo’s throat at Jongin’s enthusiastic reaction, but he seemed rather pleased. "Okay, I'm glad you don't think I'm weird after getting to know me better then."

"If you knew the people I know, you wouldn't call yourself weird." Hopefully, it would take some time until Kyungsoo got to meet Sehun, Baekhyun and co. As much as he loved his friends, they were quite the handful.

Apparently, Kyungsoo’s interest had been piqued though. "You should tell me about them sometime, I always love to get inspired."

Baekhyun definitely would love to hear that he was the inspiration for a character, there was no doubt. "I shouldn't, they would love being the centre of a book. They'd never get over it."

"Sounds like fun."

After Kyungsoo had paid, they left the restaurant together.

It had began to lightly rain outside, but it wasn’t very cold. "Will you text me when you're home? And you're sure you don't want me to drop you off?" Back inside, Kyungsoo had already offered Jongin to drive him home in his car but Jongin had politely declined. The other had already paid for his food, he shouldn’t have to drive him to the different part of the city, too.

That’s why Jongin politely, but firmly declined again. "It's the other side of the town, it’s okay! I'll take the bus, it doesn't take long." He smiled at Kyungsoo, hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

Apparently, Jongin didn’t have to worry though.

"Okay, I don't want to force myself on you. But maybe text me when you're home so I know you got there safely?" Kyungsoo returned the smile and didn’t seem offended in the slightest.

"Okay, I'll do that." Jongin promised. The light rain had stopped and they were standing on the sidewalk. It was a clear night and the stars were blinking in the sky above them.

Just when Jongin thought that it was time to part, Kyungsoo held him back. “I really had a great night.” He met his eyes under the soft shine of the streetlights. It was then when Kyungsoo leaned in and Jongin closed his eyes, waiting for their lips to touch as he leaned closer as well.

However, the touch didn’t come.

Instead, Kyungsoo pulled him into a hug. His eyes slipping open, Jongin hugged him back, although a little disappointed.

However, the smile that Kyungsoo sent him when they pulled apart made him forget about all that.

"Good night, Jongin."

 

 

"And then I was yelling at this guy over Discord because he fucking let me die when that enemy Neeko attacked me right in the beginning! He knows my Champion's early game is pretty weak."

Jongin could hear Baekhyun's moaning from the hallway the moment he stepped inside the flat.

"That's why you should only play with people you know on Lol. The community is fucking toxic." Chanyeol’s loud voice was hard to overhear and Jongin began to wonder how many of their friends were actually there.

"Well, I surely would've but you guys were probably too busy fucking so i didn't really have an option." This time, it was Baekhyun talking again.

"I mean, he's not wrong." Came Sehun’s voice wafting through the hallway.

"Still, you could have waited like half an hour. Then you wouldn't be so mad right now." Chanyeol supported his boyfriend.

"Whatever... Hey, did you guys hear the door just now as well?" Baekhyun tried to change the topic "Oh, Jongin!" They all looked up from where they were sitting around a huge pizza that was half-eaten already when Jongin entered the room.

"Hey guys. I didn't know you were having a get together tonight." Letting himself fall into an empty chair at the table, he quickly realized that everyone was still staring at him.

"It was pretty short-notice." Chanyeol explained their small meetup but the others were more interested in Jongin’s evening.

That’s why, when Baekhyun got the opportunity, he asked "How was your date?"

Sending a glare at Sehun, Jongin knew he probably should’ve expected it but he still had to ask. "You told them about it?"

Sehun only shrugged. "Was I supposed to not tell them?"

"Sehun tells me everything." Chanyeol chimed in immediately, and Sehun sent him a loving glance. Jongin stopped himself from making him a disgusted noise.

Of course, Baekhyun couldn’t help but add something either. "And I want to know everything."

And just like that, Jongin knew they all wanted to know everything into the tiniest detail. "I mean- it's not like- whatever. And it was good." He stammered.

The reply apparently didn’t satisfy the three though. "Good? Just good? You had a date with the guy you were literally crushing on for ages! Your author guy? And it was just  _ good _ ?" Sehun wasn’t having any of it.

Next to him, Baekhyun nodded. "Did he turn out to be a creep? He writes Crime, right? I always feel like people who write murder stories can't be completely right in their minds. I mean, they have to plot that and everything, it's quite creepy."

At that, Jongin couldn’t help but laugh. "He wasn't creepy." He waved it off and reached for a piece of pizza even though he already ate earlier. Everyone knew that Jongin would never say no to food.

"But still, just good?" Chanyeol had reached out for another piece as well and was now chewing while talking. Sometimes, Jongin didn’t quite get what Sehun saw in Chanyeol, romantically.

"I mean- it was amazing, actually. We got along so well. And he's so smart and sweet, I literally died like five times."

"And yet you're still here saying it was only good. So what's the matter?"

"It's just- I'm not sure if it was romantic? On one hand, it really was. He wanted to drive me home even and he was so polite and actually interested in me. But on the other hand, he didn't even try to-" Jongin stopped talking for a moment to take another bite.

"Didn't even try to what?" All three of them asked at the same time and Jongin had to laugh which in return made him almost choke on the pizza he was chewing.

At first, Jongin didn’t really want to say it. When they all didn’t stop staring, he gave in. "Initiate body contact. Like... I put my hand close to his on the table... He ignored it. I thought he was going to kiss me, we definitely had a moment there. And then he just went in for a hug."

"Shit. Well, did you agree on a second date though?" Instantly, Sehun began to frown. Jongin was happy that his best friend could understand his struggle.

"That's the thing! I felt like he was genuinely interested in another date. But here I am, wondering if I'm just misinterpreting stuff." He tried not to sound too disappointed.

To cheer him up, Sehun wrapped an arm around him while Chanyeol and Baekhyun filled a glass with Soju for him. "Maybe he's just polite? A true gentleman." Sehun pointed out.

"Or he's just not interested in me like that." The pout wasn’t ready to disappear from Jongin’s lips just yet.

Sehun wasn’t having any of that though. "Don't be like that. You're such a negative dumbass, why should he ask you out, pay for your food and offer to drive you home if he wasn't interested. Stop being a whiny prick." Gently, he patted Jongin’s back but then detached from him because Chanyeol was groping his thigh and he had to swat his hand away.

"Thanks, I love you too." Jongin grumbled but secretly, he was thankful. Sehun was clearly right and he was interpreting way too much into it. Maybe Kyungsoo really was just a gentleman and wanted to take it slow. That was something that was kind of admirable, but it just didn’t make sense for Jongin at the time.

"You're welcome." His boyfriend’s hand was still groping Sehun’s thigh because he hadn’t managed to fight it off – or he hadn’t really tried, Jongin figured it was the latter – and he filled another round of Soju shots for them.

"But I guess you could be right. I'll see how it goes." It wasn’t like he could really influence that at the moment anyways. Then, Jongin remembered something. "Shit, I was supposed to text him when I got home."

“Well, go text him then!” Baekhyun urged him and Jongin first had to physically fight him to stop him from peeking over his shoulder as he typed.

_ [Jongin] sorry, I was overwhelmed by my friends having a get together in our flat. I just wanted to let you know that I got home safely! _

It only took about a minute until he received a reply.

_ [Kyungsoo] okay, that's great _

_ [Kyungsoo] I really enjoyed myself tonight. I would love to see you again soon. Are you still interested in that? _

A smile spread on his lips as he scanned the message and a warm feeling spread in his gut as he typed his reply.

_ [Jongin] I definitely am _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know in the comments what you liked/disliked, I would really appreciate your feedback! What did you think about the date? Do you like the side Chanhun in this? :) You can find a moodboard for Ballerino Jongin [here](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1104065683988594689)! If you want, you can also follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper) to chat, I post spoilers and moodboards of my WIPs! Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I know it's been a while but I was super busy. This semester I have a lot of stuff such as work, uni and an internship but I'm working hard on updating regularly. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

"Can you help me out? Please watch my performance for the entrance exam, I'm about halfway done but I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with it."

Jongin and Sehun were holed up in the practice room once again. Dance practice belonged to their daily routine and neither could really live without it. While Sehun only had dance as a minor while Jongin studied it as his major, the two often spent time together observing their improvements and mistakes they did during practice. Lately, Jongin who generally spent more time in the dance studio compared to Sehun, because the other had to work for his major quite a lot, frequented the practice room even more often though.

In just a few months, Jongin would be done with his studies and after finishing university, he was planning to dance for the Seoul Ballet. The entrance exams were in three months already and it had always been Jongin's dream to get accepted.

The auditions were judged by the director of the ballet, dancers and instructors. The day he'd received the letter that had confirmed his acceptance to the entrance exam had been the happiest day of his life.

"Sure thing. Go ahead and show me. I know you've been working hard on it." Sehun was leaning against the mirror, looking up from where he was scrolling through Instagram on his phone.

"Okay, let me look for the song..." Jongin knelt down beside him to select the song on his playlist and proceeded to check the volume of the Bluetooth speakers until he was satisfied. Straightening up, he got in front of the mirror and waited until the music reached the part where his performance began.

Dancing came easy to Jongin. Not in a way that he didn’t have to practice, instead it was more like it made him feel at home. Whenever Jongin danced, he felt like slipping into a different persona. He didn’t really even intend to do it, it just happened. The persona could change depending on the style he danced, but it was always there, underlying in every movement that his body executed in perfection.

Out of breath, Jongin came to a perfect standstill after a complicated jump at the end of his choreography.

Instantly, Sehun started clapping with a huge smile on his face. "That was absolutely amazing, Jongin. It just- it had so much emotion. So much energy but it wasn't too much. Really Jongin, if they don't take you I don't even know." For years now, Sehun had been able to witness Jongin working to realize his dream and seeing him do so well filled him with a weird sense of pride.

At that, Jongin couldn’t help but smile as well. "Are you sure? What did you think about the jumps? Did they look clean?" Even though he was pretty satisfied with his performance just now, Jongin always found things in his dance that he felt like he could still improve. It was a never-ending cycle of finding a thing he could do better, fixing it, and then finding something else he wanted to work on.

"Yeah, I think so. Maybe you should work on your stance when you land a little bit more but otherwise it's perfect." Sehun knew when Jongin needed him to be critical. Constructive feedback was something neither of the two wanted to miss and they knew it was in no way meant to put down each other’s skills.

"Yes, you're right with that." Jongin sat down on the ground next to Sehun, leaning his head on the other’s shoulder. "I still also need to work on some parts of the choreography itself. But thank you for your honest opinion."

"So... When's your next date with your author crush?" Sehun had been looking at Jongin’s phone after Jongin had stopped dancing because the screen had lit up a few times, showing messages from a certain “Kyungsoo (hearteyes)”.

"Actually, Kyungsoo texted me just before we met up. He asked me if I had time this weekend again. I wanted to know if you could take my shift again?" Jongin looked up at Sehun with puppy eyes. "I can take yours on Thursday instead."

It wasn’t rare for them to switch shifts occasionally, but Sehun actually had something planned this time. "Hm... I was gonna go to a party with Chanyeol on Saturday. But maybe I could convince him that a chill night on Thursday would be better."

Jongin remembered that Sehun had actually told him something about wanting to go to a party that weekend but if he recalled correctly Sehun hadn’t been that keen on it either way. "It would be really cool if it worked out."

"I'll ask Yeol but I can't promise anything." Sehun grabbed his phone to text his boyfriend right away. Jongin doubted that Chanyeol would reply right away. Because of Sehun, he knew his best friend’s boyfriends schedule by heart as well and therefore knew that Chanyeol was currently at work.

With a sigh, Jongin leaned his head against Sehun’s shoulder again. It was just too comfortable. "Man, I'll be really happy when I can quit that job. It will be so nice to have a steady income from a job that I love."

"Same." Sehun let out a drawn out sigh.

Jongin hummed. "You'll ask Chanyeol, right? I don't really want to keep Kyungsoo waiting."

"Man, you're really invested already. You're still texting with him every day, right? What kind of stuff are you talking about?" Sehun demonstratively shoved his phone into Jongin’s face before trying to snatch Jongin’s away to read the messages he was exchanging with Kyungsoo.

With an iron grip on his phone, Jongin managed to save it from getting stolen. "Ah... Mostly books. Or our personal life. I told him about the audition and he told me he's working on a new book. He even gave me hints on what it's about." There was a dreamy undertone to his voice.

Sehun couldn’t help but giggle. "You look so cute when you talk about him. All heart-eyed."

"Shut up, that's not true."

"It is true. And you know it." With a snort, Sehun put his phone aside and got up for another round of dancing, this time together with Jongin.

Getting up as well, Jongin started searching through his playlist again to find the song him and Sehun were currently working on. It was a hip hop, a huge contrast to the ballet choreography he’d been practicing like crazy for the past few months but it was nice to change it up once in a while.

"Ugh, please. Like you and Chanyeol are any better."

With a grin, Sehun slapped Jongin’s ass and got into position in front of the mirror. "I never said we were."

In the end, Sehun ended up convincing Chanyeol to postpone their cinema night for the sake of Jongin’s date plans. Now that Sehun could actually take over Jongin’s shift, nothing stood in the way of Jongin and Kyungsoo meeting up again. Therefore, Jongin found himself halfway on the way to his second date with Jongin. This time, he really was hoping to get that kiss he’d hoped for last time already.

 

Kyungsoo had suggested for them to meet at a bookshop.

Instantly, Jongin had been in love with the idea. After Kyungsoo had texted him the address of the book shop that also had a small café in the back area where they could talk after strolling through the aisles filled with books, Jongin couldn’t await the day of their date.

On the way there, however, his nerves once again got the better of him.

 

_ [Jongin] Sehunnnn I’m so nervous _

_ [Jongin] what if I fuck up somehow? _

_ [Sehun] how could you possibly fuck up? _

_ [Sehun] also I’m at work Jongin, do you want me to get fired _

Jongin only snorted at that.

_ [Jongin] you always text Chanyeol during work and don’t give a fuck _

_ [Sehun] well shit you’re right _

_ [Sehun] anyways, it’ll be great Jongin. You’re literally going on a romantic book store date that could be right out of a movie. What could go wrong _

Immediately, a billion things that could go wrong came into Jongin’s mind.

_ [Jongin] I could spill coffee on me!! _

_ [Jongin] I could spill coffee on him!!!! _

_ [Jongin] I could spill coffee on a book!!!!!!!!!! _

_ [Sehun] you’re hopeless, I’m out _

_ [Sehun] no but really, you’re gonna be fine. Let me know how it went when you’re on the way home. I mean, if you’re even come home if you know what I mean _

_ [Jongin] we didn’t even kiss yet, chill _

_ [Sehun] whatever, just keep me updated. I actually gotta serve some customers now, see ya _

 

Once again, Jongin arrived a little early. This time, he didn’t feel like distracting himself in another shop so he decided just to wait in front of the shop until Kyungsoo showed up.

Lost in his phone, he didn’t notice the other man walking up to him until he stood right in front of him once again.

“Hi.”

Looking up from the screen, Jongin’s eyes met Kyungsoo’s large ones that stared at him through his glasses. Once again, Jongin was blown away by how hot and cute a single person could look at the same time. It just wasn’t fair.

“Hey. I didn’t see you there.”

A soft laugh bubbled up in Kyungsoo’s throat. “Yeah I noticed. Should we head inside? I really love that shop so I wanted to show it to you.”

“It looks nice from the outside already. Also, if you you recommend it, it has to be good.”  _ Wow, smooth, Jongin.  _ He was actually quite proud of himself for that line.

“I hope you won’t be disappointed then. Not everyone enjoys a bookstore date.” Kyungsoo smiled at him and held open the door for them, waiting for Jongin to step inside.

Honestly, Jongin couldn’t believe how giddy it made him feel that Kyungsoo had just called this a date, but he decided not to question it anymore. Otherwise, he’d probably have to question his mental state at least every five minutes during the time he spent around Kyungsoo.

“Well, I guess I’m not like everyone then.”

At that, Kyungsoo nodded. “I think so too.”

Trying not to blush like a hormonal teenager, Jongin decided that changing up the topic was the best way to maintain his sanity. “So you said you went here often, right? What’s your favourite section? I’d assume crime but I feel like you’ll surprise me somehow.”

“You’re right. I do enjoy writing and reading crime, but secretly I’m a sucker for historical stories.”

Jongin wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be surprised or if he should’ve expected it. “Really? I wouldn’t have thought of that but at the same time it suits you, honestly.”

“Why, cause I dress like a fossil?” Kyungsoo laughed. They’d made their way into the shop and were strolling through the aisles aimlessly, stopping in front of a book shelf where Kyungsoo randomly reached for a book that had caught his attention. “I’m kidding.” Kyungsoo quickly added when he saw the uncertain look in Jongin’s eyes. “It’s just that my friends always tell me I dress like an old man. I don’t see it, but they insist.”

“I don’t think you dress like an old man.” Came the instant reply of Jongin that made Kyungsoo crack up.

“Thank you for trusting in my fashion sense.” There was something in the look in his eyes that Jongin couldn’t place and he had to look away because it was getting too much. Looking for a change of topic, he took the opportunity to look around and take in their surroundings.

Compared to the many themed cafés that littered the streets of Seoul this bookshop carried a different atmosphere. It didn’t look like it was meant to convey a certain theme, instead it seemed more like it had naturally adopted the charm of an old, English book store with worn out shelves and the scent of printed ink in the air. The wooden floor creaked under their feet as they moved to the next aisle that was labelled  _ “Romance”. _

"How did you find this shop?" Jongin asked as his fingers trailed over the backs of the many books in the shelf to his right. Some of the books looked like they were second-hand, others were new. In any other shop, it would have looked out of place but right there, they seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces, creating an intricate pattern of colours that spread throughout the numerous shelves.

"I found it by accident, initially." Kyungsoo explained as he knelt down to pick up a worn-out looking book at the bottom of a shelf. When he straightened up, the smile that he sent Jongin was blinding.  "I was walking home from my part time job at the time and it was raining really heavily but I didn't have an umbrella. At one point, I had enough and slipped into the next best open shop which happened to be this one. I am kinda glad I didn't have an umbrella with me that day because from then on, I came here regularly, often to get inspired for my stories. This place just gives me that feeling of calmness that I need to write."

"That's a story like out of a book itself..." Jongin pointed out.

At first, Kyungsoo looked a little surprised but then he nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's kind of true I guess. But in the end, books are often based on real experiences, right?"

"I do hope that none of your books are." Baekhyun’s words of crime authors having to be a little weird probably came rushing back into Jongin’s mind but a single look at Kyungsoo told him that someone as adorable as that man could definitely not be a psycho. It might be naïve, but Jongin just couldn’t help himself.

Kyungsoo just laughed though. “I don’t usually find dead bodies in my backyard, no. Even though I have written about that before.”

"Well you know what I mean. Also, you probably do a lot of research on psychopaths, sociopaths and serial killers, right?" Putting a book that he’d scanned the cover of with his eyes back into the shelf, Jongin suddenly realized how close Kyungsoo was standing to him. While the other had reached out to grab another book, Kyungsoo had stepped closer to Jongin so that his back was almost touching his chest. If Jongin were to move just a little closer, he could wrap his arms around Kyungsoo’s waist and pull him against his chest. The thought was tempting and anxiety-inducing at the same time.

The moment was destroyed when Kyungsoo stepped back, bringing more distance between them once again.

"Yes, it's part of the job if I want the story to be realistic. Many people forget the importance of research. It takes ages sometimes, but in the end it's worth it for sure." The slightly older man explained and led Jongin down the aisle to the next one where the crime novels were located.

"I kind of admire that. It must take a lot of effort to be dedicated to something like this." After only a short amount of time of searching, Jongin already found a copy of one of Kyungsoo’s books that he pointed out to him by brushing his finger over the back.

With a smile, Kyungsoo acknowledged Jongin’s findings. "Well, the same goes for dancing, right?"

That took Jongin by surprise. "True... Especially right now, because I'm currently preparing for the entrance exams to enter the Seoul National Ballet. I have to showcase a performance as an addition to my application." Even though he didn’t usually like to boast, Jongin felt quite proud to confess that he was planning to work for the Seoul National Ballet.

There was a look of admiration in Kyungsoo’s eyes when he replied. "That must be tough. I would love to see you dance ballet someday, I'm sure you're amazing."

Just those few words managed to make Jongin’s heart pound in his chest. "You could come to the exam. It's open to the public." He offered without thinking about it too much.

Somehow, they’d already passed the aisle of crime novels and were heading straight to the back of the shop but Kyungsoo seemed to know where he was going. As they walked, he turned his head to look at Jongin. "Oh really? You should tell me the date and I can check if I'm free."

"You'd really come?" Alone the thought of Kyungsoo watching him made Jongin wonder if that really was a good idea. If he knew that Kyungsoo was in the audience, he’d probably majorly mess up because of nerves.

They’d reached the area of the shop where a little café was located. Truthfully, it was rather a random assembly of mismatched armchairs and tables but Jongin instantly felt cosy. Kyungsoo seemed rather content too.

"Of course. As I said, I would love to see you dance, especially on a stage." He pointed out to Jongin.

At one point, that man was really going to ruin Jongin’s heart rate. "Thank you, you're so nice..."

"Would you like to have some coffee now? I think they also sell homemade cakes.” Kyungsoo offered him a seat before settling in the armchair opposite of him. In the corner of his eyes, Jongin could already see a waiter approaching them.

With a bright smile directed at Kyungsoo, Jongin leant back in his chair. "That sounds perfect."

They ended up talking for more than two hours. Actually, they remained in the shop until it was time for the tiny book store to close and the owner had to inform that they would be closing in less than 15 minutes. Neither Jongin nor Kyungsoo had noticed the time running by so quickly so with embarrassed laughter, they paid their bill and then headed outside.

During the time they’d spent in the shop, it had begun to lightly rain so they stopped under the roof of the large building the book shop was located in to shield themselves from the rain as neither of them had an umbrella with them.

When his eyes landed on Kyungsoo who stood close to him, Jongin realized that he didn’t want to part just yet. Just when he’d been about to ask Kyungsoo if he wanted to grab a quick dinner somewhere, the other spoke up though.

“I guess it’s time for me to head home now. I didn’t realize it was so late already.”

A little disappointed, Jongin tried not to show it too much. “Ah… yes, I should probably head home, too. I have some homework left to do.”

Yet, neither of them made a move to part.

With shy laughter, Kyungsoo shook his head when the both of them didn’t show any signs of leaving after a few seconds.

“Okay, I really enjoyed myself today, Jongin. You’re a very interesting person and I’d love to see you again.” Kyungsoo’s smooth, deep voice sent shivers down Jongin’s spine and he felt at a loss for words for a few seconds.

“Me too. I really loved the bookshop, too. Also I didn’t even notice how time flew by.”

Kyungsoo nodded in agreement. “Me neither. I hope we’ll see each other again too?” Large brown eyes fixated Jongin and the younger man felt him automatically step closer.

In the matter of seconds, the atmosphere between them seemed to have completely changed. One moment, they’d been looking into each other’s eyes when Kyungsoo suddenly leaned in, closing the distance between them and Jongin’s eyes fluttered shut while his heart pounded in his chest so loud that it drowned out every other noise of the world surrounding them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think of this chapter? Please let me know by leaving a comment or Kudos, I'd really appreciate it! You can find a moodboard here.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while guys but I've been super busy! Here it is though, chapter 5! I hope you'll enjoy it!

"What the fuck do you mean you didn't kiss?"

Sehun’s voice boomed through his bedroom. Right after the date, Jongin had thrown himself onto Sehun’s bed while the other was once again glued to his computer. Sometimes, he wondered how his friends even managed to uphold a social life.

"I know it's confusing." He whined, and quite honestly, Jongin couldn’t really understand either.

 

_Large brown eyes fixated on Jongin and the younger man felt him automatically step closer._

_In the matter of seconds, the atmosphere between them seemed to have completely changed. One moment, they’d been looking into each other’s eyes when Kyungsoo suddenly leaned in, closing the distance between them and Jongin’s eyes fluttered shut while his heart pounded in his chest so loud that it drowned out every other noise of the world surrounding them._

_His lips parted slightly as he took a step forward, waiting for the touch of plush lips against his own._

_But it never came._

_Instead, Kyungsoo pulled Jongin into a tight hug, his face going right past Jongin’s waiting lips. To say that he was disappointed was the understatement of the century. Embarrassment burned hot in his cheeks and Jongin sincerely hoped that Kyungsoo hadn’t see him waiting to be kissed like a dumbass for ten seconds straight._

_After the initial shock, Jongin realized that Kyungsoo’s strong embrace felt rather good after all. It definitely wasn’t a kiss, but just the hug made his heart pound in his chest in a way that made him wonder if the other was able to feel it. He hoped that that wasn’t the case._

_When Kyungsoo pulled away, he almost wished the other hadn’t let go of him just yet._

_“Good night, Jongin. I really enjoyed myself again, I’m hoping to see you again soon?”_

_All Jongin had managed to get out was a “Yes, me too!” before they parted ways, Kyungsoo heading to his car and Jongin walking towards the bus stop once again._

 

Quite honestly, Jongin wanted to punch himself in the face for not saying more than “Yes, me too.” The date with Kyungsoo deserved a 10/10 rating with a long-ass description about how perfect it was but all he had to say had been three words, and they weren’t even _great_ words.

Right after arriving in the flat, he’d informed Sehun of his misery: The date had gone well. It had gone a lot better than just well, actually. Also, Jongin hadn’t had the feeling that Kyungsoo wasn’t enjoying himself as well. Why, just why didn’t he want to kiss him then?

Sehun seemed to agree with him on that. "It's not confusing it's- it's outrageous." He huffed, spinning towards Jongin on his desk chair. While Jongin had been gone, Sehun had died his hair. Blonde hat been the goal but due to the fact that it took an incredibly long time and multiple dye jobs in a row for his black hair to take on a blonde colour, he was currently sporting a hideous orange that was the result of one bleaching too little.

"Shut up, you dumbass. It’s not like we have to kiss, okay? We can take it slow." Jongin pouted, his fingers digging into the bag of sweets Sehun had thrown at him while Jongin had ranted to him earlier. His best friend always knew what he needed to feel better, and sometimes it was as simple as a bag of sweets.

Sehun just snorted, sending Jongin a knowing glance. "Of course you can, but do you want to?"

Of course he didn’t. He would have traded kidney for that kiss, probably. "No..." Jongin admitted, stretching out on Sehun’s bed. The mattress was kind of too hard for his liking, but Sehun always liked to stress how he was low-maintenance. Besides the mattress maybe, everybody knew how big of a lie that was though.

"You see. You have to step up your game. Next time, when you two meet you have to send clear signals."

The thing was, Jongin knew that already. While Sehun was only trying to help, Jongin kind of didn’t want to hear it. Even tonight, he could’ve probably gone in for that kiss after all. But after the initial rejection and disappointment, coupled with his usual shyness, Jongin just couldn’t bring himself to do it. "You know I suck at that."

"Sadly, that's not the only thing you suck at. And I'm not referring to dick right now ‘cause you're definitely not sucking that right now." There was a glint in Sehun’s eye and Jongin wanted to wipe the annoying smirk off his best friend’s face.

"You're so annoying."

"But you love me." Sehun waved it off.

With a huff, Jongin dug into the bag of sweets again. "I'll think about that again." He chewed.

"Ouch, Jongin, that hurt." Dramatically, Sehun turned back to his computer screen to start a new round of League of Legends.

Ten minutes later, he was cursing already. "Fuck, I hate this goddamn Yasuo, with his fucking dumbass ponytail and sword. Who even plays Yasuo?" He stared at the screen in agitation where his character had just been swiftly sent to his death without him being able to do much damage in return at all.

"I sometimes do." Jongin, who was staring at his phone, contemplating if he should text Kyungsoo for another date already, looked up just to see Sehun ruffle his disastrously orange hair. It wasn’t even a nice kind of orange, because Sehun could definitely worked that. It just looked like an accident, and a nuclear one at that.

Sehun, who’d just started to smash his keys in attempt to die again, didn’t have the time to look at him. It seemed like the game wasn’t going too well for him. "I tried to ignore that so that we can still be best friends."

"How generous." Jongin replied in-between chews. The bag of sweets was half empty already. He definitely needed to dance a lot tomorrow and work out to work that off. With the ballet entrance exams coming up, he needed to be in perfect shape but in this kind of situation, a little of sugar was necessary to soothe his wounded soul.

"I know, generous is my middle name. Besides attractive, cute and hot." Sehun giggled, having just slain an enemy and barely escaping with extremely low HP.

"I call bullshit." Suddenly, Baekhyun's voice piped up through the speakers. He’d just connected to their Discord chat and was getting ready to play another round with Sehun.

"Hi hyung, do you wanna hear about Jongin's date?" Was the first thing Sehun said and Jongin was beginning to seriously consider evoking the best friend status in exchange for the traitor one instead.

"Date? What date? Oh wait, with that author guy?" The tone in Baekhyun’s voice had switched from slightly bored to immensely interested in mere seconds.

"Precisely." Sehun provided helpfully.

"I want to hear every tiny, dirty detail."

Burying his face into the pillow, Jongin could do nothing but listen as Sehun elaborated for him. "If there was anything dirty to tell."

"There isn't? But wasn't that like... Your third time meeting?" A dramatic fake gasp escaped Baekhyun, followed by giggles. Jongin wished the pillow would just consume his face so he wouldn’t have to endure this conversation again. Yet, he actually lifted his head to stare in the direction of Sehun and the computer where Baekhyun’s voice was coming through the speakers.

"The first time was literally me drooling over him at a fansign, I don't think you can count that. Also, it's not like taking it slow is a bad thing." The fact that he felt the need to defend himself annoyed him but at the same time, he couldn’t help it.

"Of course it's not. I'm just surprised, it's all." Baekhyun replied. In the background, they could hear him rummaging around, probably cleaning his desk so he could move his arms enough to play. From experience, they both knew that Baekhyun had the tendency to stack used dishes and empty bottles on his desk until it was so packed that he couldn’t even move his mouse anymore.

"Isn't your surprise already implicating that it's not normal?" Jongin asked, trying to keep the offended undertone out of his voice. It only worked partially.

From the other side of the line, they heard something fall over and Baekhyun cursing. A second later, Baekhyun returned to the conversation. "You got a point there, I'm sorry Jongin."

The thing about Baekhyun was that he was with no doubts a jokester, but he knew when to tone it down. Just like Sehun, Baekhyun had no intention of actually offending and hurting his friends. He just naturally liked to joke around but whenever he noticed that someone was starting to feel uncomfortable for real, he tended to back down rather quickly.

"It's fine, hyung." Sitting up, Jongin decided that it was time to get out of his slump over the lack of kisses during his date and get his ass up to actually distract himself for real. Maybe he should just join his friends for the game.

Seeming happy that Jongin wasn’t seriously offended, Baekhyun’s voice had returned to its usual cheerful nature. "Now who's ready for a game of League? I was thinking about playing Yasuo today."

A loud laugh escaped Sehun and he turned his head around to share a quick glance with Jongin. "For real?"

 

 

"I have an urgent appointment with the toilet right now."

It was the third knock on the door to the bathroom already and Jongin was starting to feel positively annoyed. After coming home from a long day of dance practice and working out, he definitely needed the shower he was currently undressing for. Additionally, Kyungsoo had invited him over for a romantic dinner at his house and Jongin needed to be perfectly clean, shaved and groomed for that occasion.

"You have to be really good in bed for Chanyeol to still date you after saying shit like that." He called through the door, knowing that Sehun probably wouldn’t give up just yet though. However, Jongin had no intention to give into him, especially not with the prospect of a date in less than two hours. Earlier when Kyungsoo had asked him via text if he spontaneously wanted to come over for dinner, Jongin had been ecstatic. After their date that had just been two days ago, he’d already been dying to see the other again. Although Kyungsoo had originally informed him about his dislike of texting, it seemed as if he didn’t mind too much when they texted, at least judging by his replies that sounded quite enthusiastic most of the time.

One time he’d even sent Jongin a selfie that had made him melt into a puddle (there had been a lot of persuasion on Jongin’s side and a selfie of him pouting, but in the end it had been worth it).

Sehun’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "I am very good in bed, just for your information, and now make way cause I have to poop." Another knock on the door, and Jongin was ready to throw hands.

"I'm getting ready for my date with Kyungsoo right now. I fucking reek of sweat, I danced all day. I really need to shower now, or else I'll be late." His voice grew a little whinier, hoping that at least that would get to Sehun. Usually, he backed down once Jongin got whiny ‘cause in contrast to what Sehun usually said, he didn’t really want to annoy his best friend after all.

However, it seemed like this time he wasn’t ready to give up just yet. "I can't help it, Jongin! Everybody has a different poop schedule." The younger’s voice rang through the door.

This time, Jongin actually had to laugh. "What in God's name is a poop schedule?"

"Well, how often you have to poop in a day, obviously. It's not my fault I have to poop more than once a day." Sehun’s voice was way too serious for such bullshit content.

With a sigh, Jongin finally stepped out of his underwear and headed towards the shower. "I can't believe we're having this conversation." Nothing that Sehun could say now would stop him from taking that shower now.

"I can't believe you're not letting me use the toilet." Came the huffed response through the door when Jongin was about to turn on the shower. He’d half expected Sehun to have left by now but he’d underestimated his ability to get on his nerves until he gave in. Which, in fact, wasn’t going to happen.

"You can use it in 20 minutes okay? I really can't be late for Kyungsoo tonight. He's cooking us dinner." Just the thought made his cheeks heat up again and a stupid grin spread on his lips.

Now that seemed to catch Sehun’s attention. "He invited you to his home? It's your third date, you're one hundred percent going to fuck."

While that didn’t sound bad to Jongin quite honestly, he doubted it. "We haven't even kissed yet."

"Maybe he was trying to be a gentleman and not put out until the third date. But now he's going all out."

Sehun could have a point, but then again, Jongin just really didn’t know how to interpret Kyungsoo’s behaviour. "I don't know..."

At least, it seemed like Sehun had understood the urgency of Jongin’s shower and eventually left him to it, however, not before he’d called out an unnecessarily loud "Make sure to shave!" which probably even the neighbours heard, but the moment he stepped under the spray of hot water, Jongin had already forgotten about all of it.

 

 

In the end, Jongin managed to arrive at Kyungsoo’s place just in time for him to be greeted by the other still sporting an apron and thick-rimmed glasses. The sight almost made Jongin want to whip out his phone and take a picture to save it as his lockscreen, homescreen and any other app background and keep it like that for the next 500 years minimum. What he did instead was follow Kyungsoo inside, taking a look around the living room while the other finished up their dinner.

The mood of Kyungsoo’s living room was nothing less than comfortable. A cozy, beige couch coupled with wooden furniture and large windows with pretty curtains set the perfect mood. There were a few framed pictures on the wall, half of them were art, the other half photographs. Jongin spent a few minutes examining them while Kyungsoo was busy in the kitchen. Especially the picture of Kyungsoo during his graduation from university made Jongin linger in front of the wall of pictures for a little longer.

By the time Kyungsoo served dinner, Jongin had already decided that if they weren’t going to at least kiss that day, he would become a freaking priest instead.

The food Kyungsoo had prepared for them was actually a three course menu. The author took the time to explain every part of the menu to Jongin, starting with the vegetable soup he’d created from one of his own recipes. Next came the main dish, a Korean stew with beef and a lot of vegetables and mushrooms as well as kimchi and other delicious sides. When Kyungsoo served dessert, Jongin was already full, but in the end he obviously couldn’t say no to homemade mousse au chocolate.

"This was absolutely delicious. Is there actually something you're not good at? This is seriously unfair. You're good at writing, cooking, you're nice, polite, smart, handsome..." Jongin trailed off, sipping on his glass of wine to distract himself from the fact that he’d just called Kyungsoo handsome.

Of course, that was what the other instantly picked up on, too. "You think I'm handsome?" There was a tiny, pleased smile on the other’s lips and only because of that, Jongin realized that the compliment had already been worth it.

"Well, obviously... You're..." He trailed off, his ears colouring in shade of a tomato.

"Yeah?"

Swallowing down the wine he was currently sipping on, Jongin cleared his throat. "You're the most handsome man I ever laid eyes on." It was the truth, but that didn’t make it any less embarrassing, at least in Jongin’s opinion.

Kyungsoo, however, seemed rather pleased by his statement. It bugged Jongin just a little that he was the only one getting so flustered here.

"Weird, since I assume you've looked into a mirror before." Kyungsoo sent him a teasing grin and Jongin wasn’t sure if he should roll his eyes at him or if he should turn beet red at the compliment. In the end, it turned out to be a mixture of both that wasn’t probably one of his most attractive moments.

"That was so lame." He muttered.

"It still made you blush though." Kyungsoo pointed out, and Jongin couldn’t argue with that. When Kyungsoo asked “More wine?”, Jongin didn’t feel it in himself to decline.

That’s how they ended up on the couch, sitting closely next to each other as they sipped on their glasses and chatted about which crime authors out there had written the most captivating psychopaths to date. It wasn’t like they agreed on every single thing they talked about. It was more like they could easily chat about things like this for hours because they both were able to look at the topic from multiple points of views as well as discussing their own opinion. Jongin had always known that intelligence was sexy to him, but Kyungsoo took it to another level.

Eventually, their conversation died down though. Instead of awkward silence, however, Jongin felt quite comfortable as they just enjoyed each other’s proximity. It had been a while since he’d felt this level of comfort with someone he’d just met not too long ago, and Jongin was surprised by how natural this felt already.

"Jongin..." Kyungsoo’s voice cut through the silence, and Jongin turned his head to look at him. Sometime during the conversation, Kyungsoo had reached out to take Jongin’s hand into his own. His heart had leapt at the motion. Even now, his hand was still resting in Kyungsoo’s palm when their eyes met and Jongin could feel the beating of his heart accelerate again.

Before he could respond, a pair of plush lips were on his own, the unspoken words stuck in his throat as Kyungsoo kissed him with passion. A hand came up to tangle into Jongin’s hair, pulling him closer, and only then did he realized that Kyungsoo had seriously just pulled him in for a heated kiss. Instantly melting against the other, Jongin tilted his head a little for a better angle and indulged Kyungsoo’s already prying tongue. The first time their tongues brushed together, he couldn’t help but moan quietly, subconsciously scooting closer to the other.

One kiss turned into many and Jongin couldn’t even recall how he’d ended up on Kyungsoo’s lap but there he was, hot hands on his thigh and in his hair as Kyungsoo pressed a trail of wet kisses down his neck.

"Hey, is anybody home? I let myself in cause the lights were on but nobody opened when I rang the doorbell, however, I have this really important issue to talk about concerning- oh. Good evening."

A distant voice rang through the hallway, and for a second, neither of the two reacted to it, lips still sealed shut until they realized that the voice wasn’t just in their imagination. When the realization hit them though, they both instantly pulled apart and stared at each other with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

Just when Jongin was about to scramble off of Kyungsoo’s lap while simultaneously trying to straighten out the collar of his shirt that Kyungsoo had already begun to open as he’d left kisses on his skin, a stranger stepped into the room.

The man’s expression first shifted from shock to confusion and lastly turned into something that Jongin couldn’t describe as anything less than amusement.

"I didn't know you had a visitor." The man’s voice was soft, much like his appearance. Although he was undeniably handsome, there was a certain gentleness to his features. By now, Jongin was seriously beginning to wonder who the man was.

Apparently, Kyungsoo didn’t seem to be too surprised to see him, although there was a slight hint of annoyance in his voice if Jongin wasn’t mistaken. "Minseok..."

So now he knew the man’s name was Minseok, but Jongin still had no clue what relation he stood to Kyungsoo. Also, he wondered what kind of image they were giving: flushed cheeks, ruffled hair and clothes, and a pair of puffy lips. There was no doubt Minseok didn’t know exactly what the two had been up to.

However, the man didn’t seem to take any offense in it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you, I thought you'd be alone and-" He started apologizing immediately as if he was the one at fault. Which he technically was, Jongin thought, but at the same time he still couldn’t be sure why the guy even was here, especially without Kyungsoo having to open the door for him. Did that mean that he had a key to Kyungsoo’s apartment? That was kind of fishy.

"It's... It's okay." Clearing his throat, Kyungsoo ran a hand through his short hair in an attempt to compose himself fully. "Minseok this is Jongin. Jongin, this is Minseok, my editor. He's also my manager, because he's got no life and tends to overwork himself until I have to force him to go on vacation."

For some reason, Jongin was incredibly relieved that this guy wasn’t Kyungsoo’s secret boyfriend that he was cheating on with Jongin, but just his editor. Although he didn’t think of Kyungsoo as the type to cheat, he also had basically just met him a few weeks ago, so for a second, he’d been quite scared. But then again, Kyungsoo’s whole gentleman behaviour kind of wouldn’t have matched that but Jongin was still glad that he now knew that Minseok and Kyungsoo weren’t in a sexual or romantic relationship.

Unbothered by the jabs laced into the introduction, Minseok rolled his eyes at Kyungsoo. He still hadn’t moved away from his spot in the doorframe but Jongin couldn’t really blame him. "Like you're any different. Anyways, it's nice to meet you Jongin, Kyungsoo already told me about you." It was then when Minseok stepped a little closer and bowed to Jongin who responded with a bow a quick bow as well, feeling weirdly exposed with his dying hard on that used to be at least half hard.

"Is there a reason for you to turn up here on a Saturday night at 10pm without a warning." Kyungsoo’s eyes were still fixating his editor.

"Actually, yes. I guess you didn't check your phone but there's this problem concerning your schedule and I have to fix it as quickly as possible."

Immediately, Jongin’s eyes grew wide and he looked at Kyungsoo. "Uh...I really don't want to be a bother. I can leave if that's better for you." His eyes trailed back to Minseok who sent him a polite smile.

As quickly as Jongin had suggested it though, Kyungsoo turned down the offer. "You're not a bother." He replied, his hand reaching out to lace their fingers together again. Even though he was looking at Kyungsoo, he could feel Minseok’s burning stare on them. Yet, Jongin continued to look at the author.

"Are you sure? We can... Just continue this sometime else. It seems urgent." He offered quietly.

"It is urgent." Minseok chimed in, obviously being able to hear every part of their conversation even though they had begun to treat him like he wasn’t even there. "I'm still sorry for interrupting you though. It probably helps that this will take only like a minute or so? I just need Kyungsoo to check if he’s available on a certain date.” He explained. “I have to book this event on that day tonight or otherwise, it’ll be too late to do it. I tried to reach you on your phone but you didn’t check it so I decided to come here. I didn’t know you weren’t alone.” He was now looking at Kyungsoo with a raised brow.

"I guess it can't be helped then." With a sigh, Kyungsoo pushed himself up from the couch, although not without shooting Jongin a longing glance. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Of course though, it took Kyungsoo longer than a minute to solve the issue with Minseok about the event but about twenty minutes later, the editor had left again and Kyungsoo had returned to the living room.

It took them about a second to stare each other before Kyungsoo pulled Jongin into a heated kiss again, their arms slinging around each other as they made out heavily. When their lips parted for a second, Kyungsoo was grinning at him.

“Where did we stop again? I was hoping we could continue from there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I love being a cockblock.
> 
> Also, you can find a moodboard for the gamer gang (Baek, Yeol, Hun and Nini ofc) [here](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1117846040319791113). I would love it if you left me feedback for this fic/chapter, I always love to read your thoughts on it! Also, if you haven't noticed yet I'm currently posting another chaptered fic called the King of Balam where Kaisoo is one of the ships too. It's fantasy/historical, if you'd like you can check it out [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975830/chapters/39898584)!
> 
> Have a beautiful week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! It's been a while since the last chapter! I meant to update earlier, originally friday or yesterday, but yesterday I actually had a dance competition with my K-Pop dance group. We scored 2nd place, can you believe it?  
> Either way, here's chapter 6 and I hope you'll enjoy it! <3
> 
> Again, thanks to my amazing beta reader Alex!

“I was on your lap. I would love to resume that position again.”

Before Kyungsoo had the chance to even register Jongin’s words, the taller man had already slipped back onto his lap, his arms wrapping around his waist to pull him close. As soon as Jongin’s weight settled on top of him, Kyungsoo automatically closed the distance between them, their lips slotting together in a perfect fit.

It didn’t take long until curious fingers began to slip under Jongin’s shirt, leaving goose bumps in their wake wherever they brushed over the sensitive skin of his lower back. Arching into the touch, Jongin gasped. When their lips parted, Kyungsoo used the opportunity to press open-mouthed kisses to Jongin’s jaw, slowly working down his neck.

With every touch of his lips, Kyungsoo enjoyed the little moans and gasps that spilled from Jongin’s luscious lips as he caressed the sensitive skin of his neck. When his tongue licked a stripe up his neck, Jongin downright whined, grinding his crotch harder against Kyungsoo’s.

When he could feel where Jongin’s cock had began to thicken, leaving a deliciously inviting outline for Kyungsoo to catch glimpses of, he pulled away for a second to catch his breath. Jongin, however, didn’t leave him much of a break before he rolled his hips again in that sinful way that reminded Kyungsoo that he was indeed a skilled dancer.

“You’re wearing too much.” He breathed against Jongin’s ear, practically feeling the shudder that ran through the slightly younger man. It put a smile on his face, leaving a taste of satisfaction on his tongue that made him long for more.

“Take it off me, then.” There was a certain kind of roughness in Jongin’s voice that made Kyungsoo wanted to kiss him again right then and there, and since there was nothing holding him back, he did just that. Pulling the other in, he pressed their lips together and licked into Jongin’s mouth until the other was moaning again, their hips grinding together in need.

“Let’s move this to bed, okay? Then I will take my time getting you undressed. I don’t want to rush this.”

Jongin couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Like you didn’t want to rush the whole dating thing, either?”

“Exactly. You deserve to be appreciated.” For some reason, Jongin had expected a more light-hearted answer but Kyungsoo’s words made him flush instantly. Spluttering, he tried to come up with a response but Kyungsoo seemed to have noticed his struggle and just pressed another kiss to his lips, softer this time.

“The bedroom it is then?” He asked and all Jongin could do was nod.

It took them surprisingly long to reach the bedroom. Halfway there, Kyungsoo pushed Jongin up against the wall and they made out for a while, hands exploring each other’s bodies beneath their shirts as they kissed until they felt light-headed with the lack of air.

Only when Jongin almost kicked Kyungsoo in the balls when he hitched up his leg in an odd angle, they decided to continue their journey to the bedroom.

The moment Jongin fell onto the mattress, Kyungsoo didn’t waste any time getting right on top of him. Crawling onto the mattress, he sat down on Jongin’s hips, enjoying the feel of his hard cock against his ass. Just to tease him, he rolled his hips a little, the melodious moan that left Jongin’s lips was a joy to hear.

Quick fingers ridded Jongin of his shirt. With every inch that was revealed, his need to pound Jongin into the mattress increased until all the fabric hiding the beautiful body in front of him was gone and he could begin to litter Jongin’s chest in hundreds of little kisses. The moment he reached his nipples, the fingers that had naturally found their way into Kyungsoo’s hair tightened their grip.

Teasing the tiny bud, Kyungsoo realized that Jongin’s responses were the hottest thing he’d ever witness. None of Jongin’s reactions were left unnoticed by him, and every tiny shiver, moan, even a hitch of his breath, made him want to pull more of these reactions out of him.

“It’s unfair- I want to touch you too.” Jongin’s breathy voice made him look up, heart-shaped lips pulling into a smile.

“As you wish.” He grinned, pulling off his shirt easily. What he didn’t anticipate was for Jongin to roll them over the moment Kyungsoo’s shirt landed on the ground.

Now that he was hovering on top of him with Kyungsoo beneath him, he could fully appreciate the author’s body. While Jongin honestly hadn’t been sure what to expect, the hints of the six pack he was greeted with and a firm looking chest were more than he could’ve asked for.

“You work out.” He stated, his eyes raking over Kyungsoo’s body appreciatively.

“Minseok makes me go to the gym with him. He says I need to do it for my health since I sit around all day for my job. He’s made it his personal goal to make me live a healthy lifestyle.” Kyungsoo explained, looking a little shy for the first time all night. Jongin thought it was adorable.

Giggling, Jongin imagined Kyungsoo at the gym with his manager. “Remind me to send him a bouquet of flowers.” He smiled, sending another dreamy look at Kyungsoo’s chest.

However, there was something else that had caught his attention when he’d flipped them over. Right there, just a little lower, was a very prominent bulge in Kyungsoo’s pants. The tight dress pants didn’t really leave anything to the imagination and he couldn’t wait to get up close and personal with Kyungsoo’s dick.

The first touch made both of them let out a breath. Kyungsoo in surprise, Jongin in appreciation. Even through the fabric he could feel the thickness when he ran his hands along the length.

Unable to resist any longer, Jongin decided to quicken up their pace a little and undid Kyungsoo’s pants, waiting for the other to lift his hips just so he could tug off his pants. When the other was left in front of him with nothing on besides tight, black boxer briefs, Jongin wondered if it would be inappropriate if he whipped out his phone and took a picture just to save this moment forever.

“You’re staring.” Kyungsoo commented, his fingers running through his own hair. Jongin wasn’t entirely sure if it was a sign of nervousness, but it looked freaking hot.

“Well, that’s because the view is amazing.” Jongin admitted easily. Somehow, all his initial shyness had disappeared. For some reason that he couldn’t explain, he felt incredibly at ease around Kyungsoo in that moment. He trusted him, and it was enough for him to not feel embarrassed.

“Shut up.” Kyungsoo mumbled, but he was smiling. The expression didn’t stay for long though, his lips falling apart to form an o when Jongin’s lips made contact with his cock through the fabric of his briefs. That feeling didn’t stay for long though, because Jongin decided that he should get rid of the other’s underwear altogether before he continued.

Therefore, the next time his lips made contact with Kyungsoo’s cock, there was no fabric separating the two anymore. Now it was his turn to pull noises out of the other, but Jongin quickly realized that Kyungsoo wasn’t as vocal as him. Still, the hitches of breath and tiny gasps when he took the tip of his cock into his mouth were all the encouragement that he needed.

“Fuck, Jongin-“ Kyungsoo mumbled, his fingers pressing into Jongin’s scalp in a way that made him want to take him in deeper into his mouth. At the same time, he couldn’t wait for the other to finally get inside of him and fuck him senseless.

Jongin didn’t even realize that he was humping the mattress until Kyungsoo pulled on his hair gently. “Jongin… as much as I love your lips around my cock, I don’t want to come like that just yet. Let me undress you and make you feel good, too.” He practically purred.

Without any hesitation, Jongin pulled off with a pop, already missing the heavy weight of cock on his tongue. However, when Kyungsoo turned them over again so that Jongin was once again the one on his bed, he didn’t mind moving on to the next phase at all.

Making quick work of Jongin’s pants, Kyungsoo had both Jongin’s jeans and his briefs off in record time. When he whispered a husky “Spread your legs for me, baby.”, Jongin’s cock twitched right on full display for Kyungsoo to notice. The slightly older man just smirked, giving the hard length a few experimental strokes before he moved away to search for something in the drawers of his bedside table. When he returned with lube and a condom and all of a sudden, an entirely different heat began to fill Jongin’s guts.

The first finger that slipped inside of him didn’t really hurt. Kyungsoo had made sure to use enough lube and had teased his rim before slipping the finger inside, all the while keeping an eye on Jongin’s expressions and body language to make sure that he wasn’t in pain.

Soon enough, the first finger was joined by a second one. When Jongin had adjusted to the new stretch, Kyungsoo took his time scissoring him open until the third and eventually the fourth finger joined in, leaving Jongin feeling full and at the same time yearning for something else, something _more_.

When Kyungsoo pulled out his fingers, Jongin wanted to complain. The moment he saw him reaching for the condom wrapper though, he stopped himself and watched as Kyungsoo slid it on his thick length, giving it a few strokes to spread the lube he’d generously added after putting on the condom. Just watching him, Jongin’s mouth began to water again.

The feeling of Kyungsoo’s cock against his hole pulled Jongin out of his trance.

“Are you ready?” There was genuine concern in Kyungsoo’s eyes and while Jongin wanted to coo and reassure him that he was fine, he also wanted to tell the other to hurry and finally put his cock inside of him.

Kyungsoo didn’t make him wait much longer. As gently as possible, he pushed into Jongin, stretching him out centimetre by centimetre. By the time their hips were pressed flush together, Jongin couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.

He was pretty sure he’d never had a dick the size of Kyungsoo’s inside of him and the stretch was intense, but in a really good kind of way.

“Is it okay?” Kyungsoo was hovering above him, his breath hitting the shell of Jongin’s ear as he spoke.

“Just a moment.” He mumbled, running his fingers over Kyungsoo’s muscular back while he tried to relax so he would adjust to the stretch more quickly.

When Jongin felt like it wasn’t going to hurt too badly anymore when Kyungsoo moved, he gave him the okay.

Together, they began to build up a sinful rhythm. Rolling his hips to meet Kyungsoo’s, Jongin was pretty sure his nails were going to leave marks on Kyungsoo’s back, but the way Kyungsoo was pounding into him, he couldn’t help it.

When the other hit his prostate dead on, Jongin let out the loudest moan yet. From then on, Kyungsoo made sure to keep the angle up so he could try to hit Jongin’s sweet spot as often as possible. Every drag of his thick length made the other moan and gasp, drawing the prettiest noises out of Jongin’s plush lips that now were almost constantly parted.

From one moment to the other, Jongin could feel the tell-tale signs of his orgasm building up, the heat coiling tight in his gut as Kyungsoo continued to fuck into him with powerful thrusts. With the added feeling of Kyungsoo wrapping his hand around Jongin’s cock to stroke him in time made him moan out loud again, Jongin had half the mind to warn Kyungsoo.

“I’m gonna come.” He breathed, his hair sticking to his face. Kyungsoo was sweating too, his body glistening in the soft light of the bedroom. The expression of pure bliss on his face when Jongin clenched around him made Jongin tip over the edge, the blissed out expression of Kyungsoo imprinted in his mind as he spilled between them, covering both their chests in hot spurts of cum.

Triggered by Jongin’s walls clenching around him, Kyungsoo’s own orgasm crashed into him. Inside of him, Jongin could feel Kyungsoo’s cock pulse as he filled the condom and he was pretty sure it was one of the hottest feelings he’d ever experienced.

They both continued to roll their hips lazily until the stimulation became to much, forcing Kyungsoo to pull out. Without wasting much time, he disposed of the condom and quickly wiped their chests clean before he crashed into the mattress beside Jongin, a pleased expression on his face.

For a moment, Jongin felt the need to say something but when their eyes met, they both knew that they didn’t need words to convey their feelings about what they’d just done.

They ended up taking a shower before going to bed, both feeling nasty and sweaty. Before the shower was over, they’d both come a second time from quickly exchanged handjobs.

By the time they finally sank into the sheets again, it was already pretty late.

“Good night, Kyungsoo.” Jongin mumbled, pulling the other’s arm around his waist a little more tightly from where they were spooning. Behind him, Kyungsoo hummed against the short hair at the nape of Jongin’s neck, already half asleep.

“Sweet dreams, Jongin.”

 

 

“This is where you make the magic happen?”

The sun was shining through the large window behind the wooden desk that was the centre of the room. The rays of light burned on the fabric of his black jeans as Jongin sat down on the comfortable chair, scooting closer to the table in front of him. There was an iMac on top of it, but what really caught his attention were the several notebooks strewn across the table, adorned by loose sheets of paper with neat handwriting on them. The mess on the desk stood in a stark contrast to how overwhelmingly tidy rest of the room was and it felt like someone had just left his workplace in a hurry, unable to clean up his mess after him like he usually would.

That someone, of course, was Kyungsoo.

After the two had woken up, they’d spent a long, long time in bed, exchanging handjobs to take care of their morning wood before just cuddling for a while. Eventually, however, they decided that it was time to get up. Following a drawn-out breakfast, Jongin decided that it was now time to explore Kyungsoo’s flat a little more.

What he’d been really curious about had been Kyungsoo’s office. The office of an author was something that he couldn’t quite picture. Jongin wasn’t sure if there’d be loads of books, a nice armchair and throw blankets, a large amount of flowers to set the mood as well as at least four empty cups. There would be warm colours on the wall, curtains shielding the light from blinding their eyes as they typed on their worn out keyboard of a computer that had seen better times.  

At the same time, Jongin could imagine there to be neat shelves with minimalistic colours, a sleek desk with only the necessities on top of them so that nothing could serve as a distraction while writing. Metal décor and cool colours, coupled with useful tools on the desk but nothing more than necessary. It would be a design of cut lines and sleek angles.

In the end, Kyungsoo ended up being a mixture of both. Honestly, Jongin realized that he probably should’ve expected it.

While the room was impeccably clean with an undeniable order that all objects were subject to, the whole office still felt cozy. Even without the comfortable messiness Jongin would’ve expected to be needed for a warm and inviting atmosphere, Jongin could instantly imagine Kyungsoo at the desk, working on pages and pages filled with words of murder, violence and justice.

There were pictures on the wall, paintings of famous artists and ones that Jongin didn’t know, photographs of people that he hadn’t met yet but he guessed they were important to Kyungsoo. It made him want to meet them, and in the future he hope he’d be able to.

Now that he was sitting at the desk, he couldn’t draw his eyes away from the notes, wondering if they contained the secrets to the next bestseller in Kyungsoo’s line of books. At the same time though, Jongin didn’t even know if he wanted to be spoilered for the the next piece of writing Kyungsoo put out. While he would love to get a hint, he still wanted to feel the surprise while he read his books.

Plot-twists were Kyungsoo’s forte. He was the type of author to suggest that the storyline had found a reasonable end but when you looked down at the number of pages, you realized that there were still 100 pages left. With every page, Kyungsoo was able to work in twists and turns in the stories, creating more and more moments that made Jongin shake his head in disbelief as he read on, wondering what else the young author had in store for him. Until the very end, nobody could be sure of what was going to happen in Kyungsoo’s books, and as much as he wanted to take a peak at what was hiding in the notes written in beautiful handwriting, he didn’t want to spoil the fun while for reading the finished product.

Also, he’d never look at Kyungsoo’s notes without his consent.

It was blatantly obvious to Jongin that the fact that Kyungsoo had let him into his office was already a huge sign of trust in him. This place was where he spent the most time in his house, this was the room where he did what he loved, where he created entirely new universes with just the brain he’d been gifted by the arbitrarily chosen genes from his parents. It was the place where he dealt with plot holes and introductory paragraphs, climaxes and last words. Jongin felt honoured to be there, and he felt even more honoured when Kyungsoo didn’t seem to be nervous at all to let him into this private part of his personal life.

“Are those notes for the book you’re currently working on?” He couldn’t help but ask after his eyes had taken another good look at the room, letting the first impressions sink in to take in more details. The small pebbles for example that were arranged on one of the white shelves prettily, looking like they’d been picked up from a beach somewhere at the oceanside. Or the vase filled with healthy looking tulips on the other side of the room. Jongin reminded himself to pick up a bouquet of flowers for Kyungsoo so he could put it in there once the tulips had wilted.

“Yeah, those are some of the notes that I took during research. I’ve got tons of notebooks filled with them.” He probably hadn’t even intended to, but Kyungsoo’s eyes wandered to the shelves on the left side of the room and only now Jongin realized that two rows of one of the large shelves were filled solely with notebooks of the same time as they were strewn out on his desk and not normal books like he’d expected them to be.

“Are those all just research notes? ‘Cause holy shit, that’s a lot.” The awe was audible in his voice.

“No, not just notes. Often, I tend to write rough drafts on paper rather than the computer. I always carry a notebook around with me in case I feel inspired. For practical reasons, I tried to use my phone instead but I found myself always reverting back to the notebooks in the end. It’s just… a different feeling typing on my phone. But once I got the basic drafts finished, I get started on my computer.”

“That’s… kind of nice. That you still actually write it down on paper? I don’t even know why. It sounds so romantic. Criminally romantic, I guess. You get it? Cause you write crime novels.” Jongin giggled to himself, his cheeks reddening when Kyungsoo broke out into a big, gummy smile. He just looked so adorable when he smiled, a distinct contrast to his typically composed self.

“Criminally romantic? I like that.” He chuckled as he reached out to pull Jongin into his arms, wrapping them around the other’s slim waist. Peering up, their eyes met and Jongin melted.

“You do?” He breathed.

“Hm.” Kyungsoo hummed, a tiny smile on his lips. “But do you know what I like even more?”

Jongin’s heart hammered in his chest. “No?”

“You.” Kyungsoo whispered, closing the distance between them to kiss him ever so gently.

 

 

"If I were to get ranked on my sex game I'd be a fucking challenger."

The group of friends was gathered in Baekhyun’s room, all their computers set up for a night of gaming. Even though they had uni the following day, no one really cared enough for that to be a hindrance of their friendship tradition of playing League of Legends while living off cheap energy drinks, sugary treats and pizza for the night. Even though they were all sitting next to each other, Baekhyun at his desk with Jongin next to him and Chanyeol and Sehun at the kitchen table they’d managed to squish into the room somehow, they were all wearing headphones. The main reason for that was Jongdae, who hadn’t been able to attend their gaming session in person because he was in China for a semester abroad. Therefore, they had all joined on their Discord server to chat with Jongdae while they waited for the queue to assign them an enemy team.

"To be honest, you'd be Iron V." Sehun deadpanned as he glanced over at Baekhyun who’d been the one talking.

Frowning, Baekhyun turned his head to squint at Sehun. "But that doesn't make sense, it doesn't even exist."

"Exactly, just like your sex game."

Instantly, the whole discord group broke out howling and Chanyeol immediately gave his boyfriend a high five, the slap resonating through the room as Jongdae yelled a “Burn!” into their ears through the headphones.

Clutching his heart with his right hand, Baekhyun pretended to wipe away tear with the left one. "Ouch man, that hurt."

Still cackling, Sehun blew him a kiss. "I love you too, hyung."

In front of them, the accept notification popped up on the screen and they all hurried to press accept. A row of annoyed grunts when through the room _when “A player has declined ready check. You’ve been returned to the queue.”_ Appeared in the corner of the screen, setting them back to zero.

As they waited for another acceptance notification, Jongdae decided it was a good time to catch up with what was going on in their friend group while he wasn’t there.

"Since we're talking about love, how's it going, Jongin?"

In the matters of seconds, all conversation died down, three pairs of eyes landing on Jongin while the other struggled to come up with a response. Before he could get to replying something, it was Sehun who took the opportunity to speak up.

"Pretty good. The two finally did the deed."

"Holy shit, you did?" Jongdae’s voice rose to an uncomfortable pitch again. Even Baekhyun reached out to lower the volume of this headphones.

Embarrassed giggling escaped Jongin. "I don't kiss and tell." He muttered, brushing his hair out of his face. None of them noticed the acceptance notification popping up on the screen again, too focused on Jongin’s dating life.

"That's a blatant lie." Not having any of it, Sehun leaned back to whack Jongin’s head. If there was one thing he knew that his best friend was shy, he typically didn’t act so secretive when they were in private.

Immediately, Jongin knew that it was time to stop beating around the bush, a cheeky grin spreading on his lips as he thought about Kyungsoo. "Okay, you got me. It was amazing." He sighed, causing the room to erupt into another fit of giggles and howling. It took them about a minute of excited chattering until they actually were able to understand what the others were saying again.

"Dude if you saw the dreamy expression in his eyes, you'd know he got that good good that night." Sehun pretended to gag but then broke out into another laughing fit where he ended up sounding like a dying whale.

“No, but for real. Are you guys dating now?” Jongdae asked through the headphones when they had finally managed to make it to the Champion selection. By accident, Chanyeol had banned the champion Sehun had wanted to play so his boyfriend was currently pouting.

“Yeah. We are. Can you believe it?” Just the thought of calling Kyungsoo his boyfriend made Jongin want to grin like an idiot again. When had he turned into such a giggly mess? It would’ve been embarrassing if he hadn’t been so happy about the reason for his brain turning into goo whenever he thought of his favourite crime novel author.

“Judging by how your face just took on that absolutely disgusting, dreamy expression Sehun had been talking about? Yep, I definitely believe you.” Baekhyun wasn’t looking at him when he talked, instead focusing on adjusting his runes when it was his turn to pick a champion.

“Shut up, you’re just jealous.” Jongin grinned, not really meaning it in though. As expected, Baekhyun just laughed it off anyway.

“Why should I be jealous? There are only two months left until I have my cutie pie Jongdae back, how could I be jealous?” He replied, face schooled to a serious expression.

“Ew, before your dick ever gets close to my ass, hells gonna freeze.” Came the instant reply from Jongdae over the voice chat.

Baekhyun gasped in mock surprise. “Did you just suggest that if we were dating, I’d be the one topping?”

“Baekhyun.” Sehun put down his phone where he’d been scrolling through Instagram, boring by the selection process since he’d been the first one who’d chosen his champion.

“Yes?”

“If there’s one thing we’re all going to agree on: if you were dating Jongdae, we all know you’d be the one getting your ass ploughed.” Sehun raised a brow.

“Yah! Oh Sehun!”

 

 

With his exams upcoming, time went by insanely quickly. Whenever he spent time together with Kyungsoo though, Jongin felt like in those moments, time was slowing down for them. There was never a moment when he felt awkward around Kyungsoo, even when they were just lying on the couch, Kyungsoo writing away in his notebook while Jongin was reading through the numerous books on the shelves in Kyungsoo’s living room.

It was because of that reason that Jongin couldn’t remember falling in love with Kyungsoo. However, he could clearly remember the moment he had realized how hard he’d actually fallen for him. It had been just about a week ago when they’d been lying in bed together, naked and still breathing heavily. Earlier that day, Kyungsoo had asked Jongin to help him shave off a large amount of his hair because it had been annoying him for a while now. And as they were lying there, Jongin’s fingers running through the short stubble on Kyungsoo’s head, he realized that what he was feeling for the man next to him had turned into more than just a simple crush in the past few weeks they’d spent together.

Two bowls of steaming hot soybean paste stew were standing in front of them. It was just another night at Kyungsoo’s apartment, the TV silently running in the background as they talked about their day. Just half an hour ago, Jongin had showed up at Kyungsoo’s door after dance practice and as his boyfriend had promised that morning when Jongin had left for uni, he’d cooked them a delicious dinner which they were now enjoying together. Early on already, Jongin had realized how much his boyfriend enjoyed cooking. At some point, he’d actually started to wonder why Kyungsoo wasn’t writing cook books instead of crime novels but then he remembered how excellent his writing was and he was once again glad that Kyungsoo preferred to write about dead people rather than sautéed vegetables.

It was when Jongin was talking about how he was starting to feel more confident about his performance for the ballet entrance exams, he remembered something.

"I bought a ticket for you for the 25th. Wait a second, it has to be here somewhere." Reaching down to rummage through his bag that he’d precariously dropped right next to the table after he’d walked into Kyungsoo’s flat, Jongin produced a sleek looking ticket out of his bag and held it up for Kyungsoo to see.

His boyfriend, however, suddenly looked a little spooked. "The 25th? That's the Saturday in two weeks, right?" Kyungsoo asked carefully.

"Yeah? My ballet entrance exams, remember?" Handing the ticket to him, Jongin nodded.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened as he scanned the ticket, his gaze locking in place where the date and time was printed in thick, black letters. "Wait. That's on the 25th?"

An uncomfortable feeling was beginning to spread in Jongin’s guts and he put down the chopsticks again he’d just picked up. "Yes? It's on the 25th. Is that... A problem?"

Clearing his throat, it took Kyungsoo a moment to raise his gaze from the ticket to meet Jongin’s.

"Jongin... I have a fansign and dinner meeting scheduled for that day. In Busan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like you'll either hate or love me for this chapter. Or both. Let me know in the comments below what you think of it! Thank you for reading <3
> 
> There's a moodboard for this chapter again, of course: Warning, it's a little nsfw (shirtless stuff and it suggests sexy times happening). You can find it [here](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1125058157674475520).


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am re-uploading this for the third time already because my ao3 decided to crash... Anyways, it's been a while so a few minutes longer won't hurt, right? I was planning to update earlier, but life and fests happened and I am super busy writing new stuff already! Actually, I have a new chaptered fic coming soon - all I'm saying is aliens!!!
> 
> Either way, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

"What do you mean you have a meeting and a dinner?"

The dinner in front of Jongin was long forgotten, a very uncomfortable feeling spreading from his chest to his gut that made it a little hard to breathe. For a second, he almost believed that this was just a huge misunderstanding, maybe even just a bad dream, but then again, the ache in his chest felt rather real.

"I thought your performance was next weekend...?" Just from looking at Kyungsoo, Jongin could tell that the other was feeling incredibly uncomfortable. His hand was in front of his face again and without a doubt, he was about to start chewing on his nails, a bad habit that he couldn’t seem to get rid off even after Jongin had gifted him that really disgusting tasting nail polish that was supposed keep you away from your lips because of the taste. Kyungsoo had stopped using it after that one time when during sex, he’d pushed his fingers into Jongin’s mouth to suck on them which had in turn almost led to Jongin throwing up from the disgusting taste.

For a second, a smile almost slipped onto Jongin’s face at the memory but upon remembering what they were discussing, the sweet taste of it turned bitter.

"Well, surprise. It's not." He mumbled, putting down the ticket he’d gotten for Kyungsoo. He didn’t intend to sound so bitter but he was unable to keep his emotions out of his voice. "I've been telling you about this for months."

Resignation filled his words and he almost felt sorry when he saw the expression of hurt flash over Kyungsoo’s face. However, he then realized that it wasn’t him who should be feeling sorry but rather his boyfriend for forgetting one of the most important days in his life. Biting his lips, Jongin tried to blink away tears. He definitely didn’t want to cry right then and there.

A hand closed around his wrist and when he looked down, Jongin saw that Kyungsoo had reached out for him. Their eyes met for a second before Jongin had to look away, trying to hide the tremble of his jaw.

"I know Jongin, I don't even know how this could happen. I'm incredibly sorry." His boyfriend’s words sounded honest, but still Jongin wasn’t comforted by them.

"I've been talking about the entrance exams this whole time. Can't you... Postpone it? The performance is at 8 in the evening." Everything inside of him screamed at him to stop sounding so whiny. Yet, the words were out and Jongin couldn’t deny that he really wished that Kyungsoo could rearrange his schedule. It might have sounded selfish, but he just really had wanted Kyungsoo to be there to watch him perform during the examination.

For a moment, Jongin felt hope bloom inside his chest at the thought of Kyungsoo possibly rescheduling his appointments. When he caught the expression on the other’s face though, his hope was crushed as soon as it had appeared.

"I don't think so, Jongin. My whole weekend is packed with schedule. I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't plan it to be this way. I really wanted to see you and cheer for you...I'm so sorry I messed it up." There was a certain finality to his words that was hard to swallow for Jongin.

"It's okay."

And even though they picked up their chopsticks again after a short silence, they both knew that it wasn't really okay.

Jongin ended up heading home for the night instead of staying over. Kyungsoo didn’t even attempt to make him stay but Jongin wasn’t mad about it. In the end, he figured that Kyungsoo just wanted to give him some space to calm down and Jongin was grateful for it.

The moment he made it through the door of his shared apartment, tears started flooding down his cheeks. Furiously wiping them away, he kicked off his shoes and headed straight for Sehun’s room only to find it empty. It didn’t surprise him that his best friend wasn’t there, he was probably staying with Chanyeol for the night but still, he felt another wave of hot tears running down his cheeks as he groaned in frustration. He’d just wanted to vent to someone, that person preferably being Sehun.

Instead of huddling together and crying into his best friend’s shoulder, Jongin ended up making himself a cup of tea and then put on a documentary about bears, falling asleep with puffy eyes and drying tear streaks on his cheeks.

By the time Sehun returned the next day, it was afternoon already. Early in the morning, Jongin had woken up and texted Sehun about the dilemma but it had turned out that Chanyeol had taken Sehun to another city for a spontaneous short stay at a nice hotel so he came back much later than Jongin had expected. While he felt a little bad that that the issue with Kyungsoo took up their whole conversation the moment Sehun saw the expression on his face, he didn’t really want to hear about someone’s perfect relationship while his own seemed to have a really bad down phase.

Speaking of Kyungsoo, Jongin hadn’t talked with him at all yet since he’d left his flat last night. Usually, they tended to text in the morning and in-between whatever they were up to, but today, Jongin hadn’t responded to the other’s good morning text and the two others following that were basically just the same apologies as the previous night.

It probably was petty, but Jongin was still sulking and if being petty was what made him feel a little better for now, he was going to continue being petty for the sake of his heart.

After he had told Sehun the whole story, both of them seated at the kitchen table with two steaming bowls of instant ramen in front of them, his best friend couldn’t contain his anger.

"Holy shit, I'm gonna kick him in the balls." Like every time Sehun was showcasing extreme emotions, his eyebrows had turned into incredibly expressive hairy caterpillars.

And even though the thought of Sehun kicking Kyungsoo in the balls made him happy for a moment, he shook his head, a grin still etched on his lips though.

"No, he still needs them. But metaphorically, please kick him hard."

Sehun only huffed and grabbed another handful of chips. Once again, Jongin was surprised how many of them could fit into Sehun’s mouth at once. What surprised him even was how Sehun was still able to communicate with them in his mouth though.

"Man, that really sucks... and he really can't make it?" Halfway through chewing, Sehun had apparently decided that it was a good time to start talking already. Jongin didn’t agree with him.

Looking away in disgust so that he didn’t have to see half-chewed shrimp flavoured chips, Jongin stared at their microwave, realizing that it definitely needed a cleaning job.

Tearing his eyes away from their dirty kitchen appliances, Jongin heaved a sigh.

"Didn't seem like it. He's got a reading in the afternoon which he can't really cancel. People booked the tickets and probably hotels and took off work to go there. It'd be a dick move. The thing is, I can't even blame him for going there cause he has to." It wasn’t like he couldn’t understand Kyungsoo and that it was basically impossible for him to cancel the events, that also didn’t change the fact that it fucking sucked though.

"But he could've made sure it's not on the day of your exam." Sehun hummed, his hand already halfway in the chips bag again.

"I guess so. He said he got the dates mixed up." His attempt to shrug it off was quite miserable.

"Didn't you always tell me about how put together he is? Doesn't seem like it."

Damn, Sehun really was a good listener.

"We all make mistakes." Jongin tried to reason. In fact, he wasn’t even sure why he was defending Kyungsoo while he was also the one that was currently being mad at him. Sehun didn’t seem to understand that either.

"And yet you're moping. It's kinda cute how you still defend him. If Chanyeol pulled that shit on me, I wouldn't talk to his sorry ass for at least a week." Dropping his hand on his thigh, Jongin could watch as Sehun rubbed his greasy fingers on his jeans to clean them.

"Wow, that must be love.” Jongin snorted.

For some reason, Sehun’s cheeks started to colour and he looked like he’d just gotten caught doing something forbidden. "Shut up, it's just some special kind of love. Actually...” He mumbled but then trailed off, looking torn about whether he should really say it. In the end, the words broke out of him after all. “Chanyeol asked me if we wanted to move together."

Now, that wasn’t something that Jongin had expected at all.

"Wait- what?"

"Yeah."

Actually, maybe he should’ve expected it. Chanyeol and Sehun had been dating for what felt like forever and it would’ve been a lie if he hadn’t thought about the possibility before. Still, the thought of his best friend moving out seemed shocking in the first moment.

After gasping like a stranded fish for a second, Jongin finally found his voice again. "And what did you say?"

"I said I had to discuss it with you first."

If it wasn’t Sehun sitting in front of him right now, he wouldn’t have trusted his ears.

"What? Are you stupid? You're an adult and Chanyeol's your boyfriend, not me." Sometimes, he really wondered how Sehun had managed to keep the relationship going for so long. Then, he remembered how cute and loving Sehun and Chanyeol were most of them time and he knew exactly how he did it.

"I panicked, okay?" Sehun looked and sounded distressed. "It came totally out of the blue. We just finished fucking and he cups my face and goes 'I know it's weird timing but do you want to move in with me?'. I was speechless."

The genuine expression of helplessness made Jongin want to hug Sehun. Yet, he couldn’t resist roasting him first.

"First of all, tmi, second of all, the first thing that comes to your mind is "I have to discuss this with Jongin first?" Man, I'm lucky Chanyeol doesn't hate my guts."

With a whine, Sehun leaned back in his chair and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Shut up. Either way, what do you think about it?"

It was kind of cute how Sehun wanted to know his honest opinion. Truthfully, Jongin didn’t want Sehun to move out. Not everyone had the privilege to live with their best friend and have them around 24/7, hell, some friendships might not even survive this much of close contact all the time. Therefore, Jongin couldn’t help but feel a little sad. At the same time, he knew that moving in with Chanyeol was the only right decision Sehun could make.

"You two moving together? Sounds like a disaster to be quite honest but you should go for it. You get this really disgusting look on your face when you talk about him so if that ain't love, I don't know. Also, that way we can throw house parties at your place instead of here." A smile had slowly made its way onto Jongin’s face, breaking out into a full-blown grin as he watched Sehun’s face turn from slight offense to mild appreciation.

"Wow, thanks for the high-quality input." He still managed to deadpan but Jongin only sent Sehun a cute smile.

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, Sehun’s eyes widened and he leaned forward, perching his chin on his hands, all the while looking at Jongin with determination in his eyes.

"You know what? After all this drama I think we deserve some cake... there's this new shop at the mall and we all know that stressed spelled backwards means desserts. Since they just opened, they have this offer of four slices for the price of two. And the slices are huge."

"And who's supposed to eat all that?" Jongin asked even though he doubted that he’d have any problems putting away two slices of cake even if they were large.

With a roll of his eyes, Sehun got up. It was clear that this wasn’t up for discussion and Jongin didn’t blame him.

"Cake doesn't have a lot of vitamins so you gotta eat a lot to stay healthy, right?" Sehun grinned and stretched, almost pushing over the chair as he took a step backwards.

"Impeccable logic." Jongin snorted.

Pulling him into a hug, Sehun hummed in approval. "I knew you'd get me. That's why you're my best friend. and now get your ass up, we're getting that cake."

For obvious reasons, Jongin couldn’t avoid Kyungsoo forever. Actually, he already ended up texting Kyungsoo while he was getting cake with Sehun. Even though things seemingly went back to normal after that, Jongin couldn’t help but feel like something stood between them the whole three weeks until his final exam.

The weekend of the ballet examination came quicker than expected.

He kissed Kyungsoo goodbye before the other left for his business trip, they had spent the whole day together, Kyungsoo cooking for him and fucking him on the couch in his living room before he had to leave to catch his train in the evening. Like the good boyfriend he was – minus the ‘mixing-up-the-dates-incident’ obviously – Kyungsoo had bought Jongin his favourite sweets, a cute teddy bear and a single rose. It was cliché and almost disgustingly romantic, but Jongin loved it, especially since acts like these usually weren’t Kyungsoo’s style at all.

Still, he watched Kyungsoo with a heavy heart as the other shouldered his bags, leaning in for another peck to the lips before the door of his apartment fell shut behind him.

"Im so fucking nervous."

The night of the entrance exams for his dream career to become a professional ballet dancer had come. The hall was packed as far as Jongin could tell from his glance through the doors. He’d slipped away from the changing rooms and backstage area to meet up with Sehun again before the event officially started. He was already wearing the outfit and makeup he was going to wear on stage. A simple black combination of tights and a beautiful shirt made of silk adorned his body, coupled with just a hint of eyeshadow on his lips and a gentle touch up with some foundation and highlighter. Sehun had already complimented him on how stunning he looked but it still hadn’t helped to cool his nerves.

"Jongin, you're gonna ace it." Sehun was still trying to convince him that everything was going to be okay. "There are two things that I know for sure in this world. One, you are the best dancer that I ever met. Second, my dick is bigger than Chanyeol's even though he denies it."

"Gross." Jongin commented. Still, it made him smile.

"Chanyeol doesn't think so."

At the mention of Sehun’s boyfriend, Jongin remembered something.

"Where is he, by the way? Didn't you say he'd be attending the show to watch too?"

"Ah... Yeah, he's just a little late. Nothing unusual, right?" Sehun didn’t look too concerned so Jongin decided to do the same. It was Sehun who knew Chanyeol best after all. Luckily, he’d rather quickly informed his boyfriend after his talk with Jongin that he was very willing to move in with Chanyeol. Last week, they’d looked at the first flat together already. Jongin wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen his best friend being happier.

"That's right.” Sehun agreed and then switched the topic. “It's sad that Baekhyun couldn't come. I really wish he could've switched that shift."

Originally, Baekhyun had been planning to come as well but he’d ended up not finding anybody to take over his shift initially so when he did eventually manage to convince a co-worker to take his shift from him at their local grocery store, there hadn’t been any tickets available anymore so he’d been stuck with working the nightshift after all.

"Yeah it sucks dude. But well, I guess that means he's stuck filling shelves in a supermarket for the evening." Pulling out his phone, Sehun checked for new messages. When his eyes landed on the clock, he let out a breath. "Now, let me get back to our seats, your parents wanted to say hi to me too before the examination begins." He’d met them about half an hour earlier already, but they’d just greeted each other very fleetingly as Sehun had had to use the toilet rather urgently.

"Yeah, okay." Jongin nodded. His eyes fell back on the crowd behind them and he swallowed. "It's just... I wish he was here, you know?"

Of course Sehun knew. Pulling his best friend into his arms, he perched his chin on his shoulder.

"I know, Jongin. But believe me, it'll be okay. You'll do perfect, everyone will love you and soon, my best friend will be a ballerino from the Seoul national ballet! I can't believe it."

The way his eyes started to burn really weren’t beneficial for the state of his eye-makeup but Jongin couldn’t help it when Sehun was being this sweet.

"Oh shut up." He grumbled, burying his head against the other’s shoulder. He was probably going to leave a make-up print but he couldn’t care less. "No but for real, I love you Sehun. As a friend of course, I don't want Chanyeol to get his panties get into a twist-" Sehun stopped, "technically I'm the one from us that wears the pant-" a shit-eating grin spread on his face, "I really don't need to hear that. I was trying to be cute and sentimental, but no, you have to make it about your sex life. But you're still my best friend and I know you're just weird, so it's okay." Narrowly avoiding a crack of his voice, Jongin pulled away to meet Sehun’s eyes.

"Wow, that was almost sweet." The other giggled and immediately, Jongin almost wanted to take back his words.

"Ugh." He pouted and took a step back, only reluctantly letting go of Sehun. "I have to go back now, I'll see you after the show."

At the mention of the actual performance, his heartbeat started to venture into unhealthy heights once again.

Like the amazing best friend he was, Sehun immediately sensed the return of nerves just by Jongin’s facial expression and the shift of his stance.

"We all believe in you, Jongin.” He soothed him, once again pulling him in for a hug. “Good luck, I love you too. Only as a friend of course, no homo, right? Well kinda homo, but not for you."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Rolling his eyes, Jongin pulled away only to see Sehun failing to wink at him by closing both eyes instead of just one.

"Love you too, Nini. And now, go and kick some ass ballerino style!"

When the assistant called out Jongin’s name to inform him that he was up next for his performance, he wasn’t sure if his heartbeat could still be considered the normal, healthy tempo. The whole introduction of his name, music piece and contestant number rushed past him, not really listening to any of it.

The moment he stepped onto the stage, blinding lights seemed to drown out his surroundings for a moment. It took a few seconds until his eyes had gotten used to the spotlights. As he walked to the spot in the centre of the stage where he was supposed to his performance, his eyes scanned the crowd in their search for his friends and family.

Suddenly, Jongin’s breathing caught. He was sure he was hallucinating but when he blinked, he was still there.

The world seemed to stand still for a moment when his gaze met a pair of large and very familiar deep brown eyes in the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, there's only one chapter left! What did you think of this one? Let me know in the comment! I always love to hear your opinion <3  
> As always, there's a new [moodboard](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1135212775989555200). Also, feel free to hit me up on twitter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! I know it's been forever, and I'm incredibly sorry. Lots of stuff happened in my personal life (health issues, vacation, work, uni, I started my semester abroad), and I continuously planned to update, but other responsibilities kept me from finishing this. Either way, I'm happy that I'm finally able to upload the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who stuck around and waited for me, I really appreciate it. Also, I was so surprised by how much love this story received, I didn't exepct it at all, so thank you guys so much!

_ The world seemed to stand still for a moment when his gaze met a pair of large and very familiar deep brown eyes in the crowd. _

If Jongin’ heart had been pounding because of nerves, it was positively threatening to jump out of his chest now. All eyes were directed at him, the spotlights of the large theatre stage putting him in the centre of attention, but all Jongin could focus on was the man in the crowd that he’d never expected to see here tonight.

There he sat, next to Sehun and his parents, clad in an impeccable black suit and a crisp white shirt, smiling at him with his heart-shaped smile and eyes filled with pride and adoration. Jongin’s chest swelled, and for a second he could have missed the beat of the music that told him to begin his performance, the performance of his life at that, because there was the man that had stolen his heart with just a few words and many kisses.

Kyungsoo had come to his performance, and as Jongin twirled over the stage, executing perfect pirouettes and flawless spins, it was his name that was ingrained into his system as he presented the choreography he’d been practicing for the last months.

Everyone in the theatre was watching him, but to Jongin, it felt like he was only dancing for one person alone.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be dining with important people right in this moment?"

It probably shouldn’t have been the first thing that came out of Jongin’s mouth upon facing Kyungsoo after everything that had happened, but here he was, staring at the other in disbelief as if he still couldn’t quite grasp that his boyfriend was truly there and not just his imagination.

When Kyungsoo pulled him into a hug though, he realized that his boyfriend really stood right in front of him, his unique scent filling Jongin’s nose and the short hairs brushing against his cheeks as Kyungsoo wrapped his strong arms around him.

"I managed to postpone the dinner." He murmured, his lips close to Jongin’s ear. It sent a shiver down his spine. He still hadn’t let go of him, so there they stood, in the middle of a crowd of people during the break of the examination. To Jongin, it felt like they were the only ones in the room though, and all he wanted right then was to kiss Kyungsoo. But the other pulled away carefully, looking up at his boyfriend with admiration in his eyes. Jongin’s heart ached, but in a good way.

"Your performance was stunning, Jongin. I didn't see any of the other dancers, but I already know that you were the best. It's just- there's something about you that's captivating. I don't think people can even be envious of your skill, cause it just is so joyful to watch you. It's like you're a different person on stage, but at the same time, that's the ultimate you. Do you know what I mean?"

For a moment, Jongin was at a loss for words. When he’d finally found his ability to talk again, his cheeks were red, and his tone was bashful. "You really are a writer." He murmured, feeling shy at Kyungsoo’s compliment. "So you postponed the meeting? For me?" Somehow, the thought was still very much unreal to him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kyungsoo nodded. "I wanted to surprise you. Also, it wasn't really planned. I just got the okay this morning, until then I was just hoping it'd work out." Once again, there was an apologetic expression on Kyungsoo’s face.

"But you didn't even have a ticket..." Jongin didn’t understand, especially not when Kyungsoo had the audacity to grin.

"Sehun gave it to me. The one that you got me I mean."

"Sehun?" Jongin’s eyebrows shot up. "He knew about this?" Of course, his best friend had to be involved in this. If he just got a hold on him, he’d… "That fucker-" Jongin muttered.

Kyungsoo’s arm slid around Jongin’s waist, leading him towards the bar where people queued up to buy overpriced champagne and tiny snack portions. "I wanted to tell you but he said it was a cool dramatic surprise." Kyungsoo continued to explain.

"And you listened to him?" Jongin couldn’t believe that Kyungsoo would actually listen to Sehun, especially if it was about creating a  _ dramatic surprise _ , as he called it.

"What can I say? I'm a writer after all, I love drama." The smile that bloomed on Kyungsoo’s lips was so beautiful that Jongin forgot to be mad for a second, but he quickly reminded himself that he wasn’t done with this issue just yet.

"I could've messed up my performance!" He pouted. "I was so surprised when I spotted you in the crowd, I-"

They’d reached the queue at the bar, and Kyungsoo’s gently rubbed his waist with his fingers.

"I doubt you could've ruined it, Jongin. Every single movement of yours was stunning." He explained, having to tilt his head up a little so they could meet each other’s eyes.

"Soo..."

"I mean it. I wouldn't have wanted to miss that. I mean, there's no doubt you'll be accepted so I'll have plenty of opportunities to see you. But still."

The queue in front of them progressed. Jongin probably shouldn’t have champagne just yet, but when Kyungsoo pressed a flute with the sparkly drink into his palm, he didn’t have the heart or will to decline. When their classes clinked together in a silent cheer, Jongin couldn’t help but smile.

"It makes me really happy that you came after all." He said, only loud enough for the other to hear. "Thank you, Soo."

Quickly, before anyone could register what he was doing, Kyungsoo had pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Jongin could still feel the phantom touch of his lips against his cheekbone when Kyungsoo was speaking again already.

"Don't thank me for that, Jongin." He smiled. “I loved every second of it, just as much as I love you.”

Although it was no surprise to anybody when the list of accepted dancers was announced that Jongin’s name was on the list, the dancer still broke out into tears. It took his parents, Kyungsoo and even Sehun to soothe him enough to stop bawling his eyes out in a crowd of people coming to congratulate him. His eyes still looked puffy when he stood on stage again where everyone had been asked to gather again to accept their letters of confirmation and a bouquet of flowers.

After the announcement, Jongin returned to his family and friends again, and for a moment, he almost forgot that he still had a bone to pick with Sehun. So, when his parents were busy chatting with some people they’d met during performances, Jongin turned towards his best friend with a sour expression on his face (admittedly, it didn’t look too intimidating since there were still a few tear streaks visible on his cheeks, but he tried, okay?).

"How could you keep this a secret from me?"  _ This  _ obviously referred to Kyungsoo who had the nerve to look offended for a second, but Sehun apparently still didn’t get. Or, he didn’t want to get it.

"What?" His best friend raised a brow. Jongin couldn’t tell if he was fucking with him or not. "I don't know what you're talking about-" Sehun continued, but Jongin quickly took the opportunity to interrupt him.

"Don't play dumb or I'll change your League name to "TeemoFucker69"." He threatened.

Sehun gasped. "You wouldn't-"

"I would."

"I didn't know you could be this cruel, Nini." Sehun pretended to wipe away a mock tear from his eyes, but Jongin wasn’t having any of it.

"But for real, you knew about this?"

Brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes, Sehun sighed. "Yes, who else gave your boyfriend his ticket, huh?"

"I can't believe- I could've messed up, I was so surprised when I saw him."

Behind him, Kyungsoo snorted. "You're repeating yourself Jongin."

"Soo, you're supposed to support me, not do the opposite." Immediately, Jongin turned around to pout at his boyfriend, and Sehun only laughed.

"He's about as good at this as you're in supporting me in ranked, so..."

Quickly, before this could turn into another ‘Let’s unite against Jongin’ thing, he tried to do damage control. "We're getting off topic."

Before any of them could respond, it was actually Chanyeol who spoke up. He’d just come back from returning their empty champagne flutes, a large smile on his lips. Although he’d only heard the last few lines of their conversation, he knew that it was time to break up the unnecessary tension.

"You know what I think? Let's stop discussing and have dinner instead." He suggested, and just like this, Jongin grew even more confused.

"Dinner?" He asked, looking first at Chanyeol, then Sehun.

"Yes, it's a surprise! We booked a table in a fancy restaurant for all of us. The others are coming too!"

"What?" Jongin wasn’t sure if he’d heard right but Sehun was quick to explain.

"We already knew you'd pass, so of course we had to celebrate that." Jongin’s best friend had stepped next to Chanyeol, his arm sneaking around to pull his boyfriend closer. The slightly taller man nodded immediately as if to emphasize Sehun’s point.

"I mean I could've messed up..." Jongin couldn’t believe that they’d all done this without him knowing. The last time they’d tried to organize a surprise party for Junmyeon had failed when Sehun had accidentally invited him into their Kakao talk group chat called ‘Junmyeon’s surprise party: top secret”.

Behind him, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but agree with Sehun though. "You're a god on stage, Jongin. Shut up and take the compliment." He grinned, and when Jongin couldn’t think of anything better to reply, he decided to accept that he just really, really hit the jackpot with his friends.

They stayed out until three in the morning. After their dinner at a wonderful restaurant that even Kyungsoo complimented – his boyfriend’s standards were considerably high when it came to restaurants and the food they served – the whole group, consisting of several of Jongin’s friends including Baekhyun, Junmyeon, Moonkyu and many more, they decided to head to a smaller bar afterwards to celebrate Jongin with a few drinks. Chanyeol and Sehun were the first to leave, unable to keep their hands from each other for more than five consecutive minutes, so when Chanyeol began to grope Sehun underneath the table, Junmyeon thankfully told them to  _ ‘get a fucking room’. _ After that, it didn’t take long for the group to disperse and it was four in the morning already when Kyungsoo and Jongin finally laid in bed.

"I still can't believe you came after all..."

Gentle fingers were stroking through soft strands of hair, and when Kyungsoo turned his head to look at Jongin, he could only make out the vague shape of him in the darkness of their bedroom. The moon was shining through the window, the only source of light. It was almost full moon, the large circle almost complete as it stood high up in the sky. The light itgave off was cool, tinting everything it touched with an ethereal aura.

"I felt really bad for letting you down. And of course, I also really wanted to see you dance." Kyungsoo mumbled. He sounded a little tired, but his words were genuine. "I'm proud of you, Jongin."

Jongin turned his head too, and their eyes met in the darkness. "Kyungsoo..." He breathed.

"It's true... I never thought I'd find someone like you." Like this, Kyungsoo’s voice seemed to be even deeper than normal. It was raspy and melodious, and it poured down Jongin’s spine like molten honey.

"You're unusually romantic..." He mumbled, feeling flustered.

"Are you trying to say I'm not usually romantic? You're hurting my feelings." A soft laugh could be heard, and Jongin smiled.

"You're just a lot more... Composed normally." He tried to explain.

"I guess all it takes is a wonderful ballet dancer to make me soften up." The finger’s in Jongin’s hair had stilled, but their faint touch was still there. Jongin moved his head a little closer, and suddenly, their lips were only inches apart.

"Ugh, just shut up and kiss me." Jongin breathed, his eyes fluttering shut.

He didn’t see the smile on Kyungsoo’s lips, but he could hear it in his voice.

"There's nothing I'd rather do."

Before Jongin could register it, Kyungsoo had rolled them over and adamant lips were pressed against his own. He easily gave in to the kiss, spreading his legs subconsciously to adjust their new position when Kyungsoo’s tongue slipped into his mouth. When Kyungsoo sucked on his bottom lip, Jongin shifted his hips a little, a wave of heat crashing into him so suddenly that he didn’t know how to move or what to do for a moment. There was just something about Kyungsoo that made him feel high on his touches, no matter if they were from his lips, fingers or his whole body against his skin.

There was a knee between his thighs, plush and muscular, and when Jongin tilted his lips a little, his hardening cock brushed right against it. They were both wearing only boxers, but even that already felt too much already. He wanted Kyungsoo, and he wanted  _ everything _ of him.

Soft lips pressed against his jaw. They moved on to Jongin’s neck and he shivered when Kyungsoo licked a long stripe over his pulse point, his skin suddenly cool to the touch where Kyungsoo’s tongue had just been. The other blew on it, and Jongin let out a shaky breath. At the next fleeting touch of Kyungsoo lips on his skin, this time his collarbone, Jongin’s fingers slipped underneath the fabric of Kyungsoo’s briefs to cup his ass. There was just something about the plushness of him that Jongin could never get enough of, and the appreciative, low moan that spilled from Kyungsoo’s lips only egged him on to continue palming them, his finger brushing into the crack and over his hole almost accidently. It pulled another moan from Kyungsoo, and Jongin wished that his melodious voice could be the soundtrack for the rest of his life.

Jongin felt intoxicated. Their hips were rutting together, quickly hardening cocks sliding together in sloppy movements of their hips, but it felt perfect any way. Jongin wanted to thank Kyungsoo when the other reached between them to pull their cocks free from the fabric, but he could only get out a moan when Kyungsoo’s hand wrapped around their lengths, stroking them once, twice, building up a slow rhythm that was torture and ecstasy at the same time.

“Fuck, Soo- I need you inside.” Jongin rasped out, quickly followed by a low groan when Kyungsoo’s thumb swiped over the tip of his cock. Then the hand was gone though, and Jongin was just about to protest about the sudden loss of stimulation when he realized what the other was doing.

After Kyungsoo had retrieved the lube from their bedside drawer, Jongin automatically spread his legs before his boyfriend even had to ask. The appreciative smirk was enough for Jongin to know that Kyungsoo approved of things like this whenever he did it.

“You know, I’d really like to watch you finger yourself one day.” Kyungsoo mumbled, still toying with the bottle of the cap. Jongin knew that Kyungsoo was only teasing, trying to draw this out a little longer, but he couldn’t help but feel impatient.

“That sounds hot… but right now, I’d prefer it if you got those lovely fingers inside of my ass right about now.” As if to underline his point, he wrapped his legs around Kyungsoo’s waist and attempted to mockingly pull him closer.

Kyungsoo just laughed and scooted a little bit closer to him. The sound of the lube bottle cap popping open could be heard, and soon enough, the first thoroughly lubed up finger was rubbing against Jongin’s hole. It slipped inside without any discomfort. Jongin reached down to grab his cock, slowly stroking it as Kyungsoo began to fuck him with his finger in the search of his prostate. The moment he found it, Jongin’s world began to dip into pure bliss.

The second and third fingers didn’t take too long to follow after that. Although Jongin reassured him that Kyungsoo could fuck him already, the other made sure to scissor him open and stretch him well enough before he proceeded.

“I need you.” Jongin breathed, and he wanted nothing more than to tangle his fingers in Kyungsoo’s short hair and pull him in for a long, languid kiss. But the other was too far away at the time, and he had to reach out for the other to understand what he was getting at. Lips crashed against each other, and their tongues slid together. They had to pull apart for Kyungsoo to line up. When he finally sank into him, his face was squished against Jongin’s neck again, his puffs of breath sending an electric jolt down his spine every time he breathed.

The stretch was a lot at first, but Jongin adjusted to it quickly. Kyungsoo had to stay still for a moment, but when Jongin slowly began to move his hips, rolling them experimentally at first, they both moaned quietly.

Together, they began to build up a steady rhythm. It wasn’t fast or hard, but Jongin preferred it that way for now. His arms were wrapped around Kyungsoo’s neck, and they were kissing again, lips sliding against each other easily as their hips worked together.

Kyungsoo had sneaked a hand between them to stroke Jongin’s cock, but after some time, Jongin gently pushed it away. If Kyungsoo continued, he wasn’t going to last much longer, and even though that wouldn’t have been horrible, he still wanted to draw it out again. Therefore, Jongin decided to initiate a change of positions. He was about to suggest riding Kyungsoo, but the other had a different idea.

That’s how Jongin ended up laying on his stomach, Kyungsoo’s palms smoothing out the soft skin of his ass to spread his cheeks. Jongin half expected Kyungsoo to line up and push inside already, but the other took him by surprise when he didn’t slip inside his hole but lodged his length between Jongin’s cheeks instead, fucking them instead of fucking into him. Jongin let out a moan, and Kyungsoo groaned, eyes glued to where his cock was sliding against Jongin’s small but beautiful ass.

It didn’t take too long until Jongin grew too impatient again. He missed the stimulation of Kyungsoo’s cock against his prostate, so when he mewled wantonly, his boyfriend quickly got the hint and lined up. When his cock slipped inside a second time, Jongin already knew that this wasn’t going to be as gentle as their rocking together earlier.

As Kyungsoo set a rhythm, one of his hands splayed out on Jongin’s back as the other held his waist. There was much more power behind it as he pounded into him now, and with every thrust, Kyungsoo tried to find the angle that was going to make Jongin see stars. When the other cried out, he realized that he’d found it.

After that, it was only a matter of time until they both neared their climax. The rhythm that Kyungsoo had begun to build up was slowly faltering, the movement of his hips becoming erratic. It only served to turn on Jongin even more, and he was the first to come, his cock pressed and rubbing against the mattress as Kyungsoo’s cock hit his prostate dead-on once again. Stars exploded behind his eyes, and Jongin moaned brokenly, his face half squished into the pillows as he desperately rocked back to get more, more,  _ more _ of that heavenly friction.

It only took a few more thrusts for Kyungsoo to come too, melodious, deep moans spilling from his thick lips as he filled Jongin up. For a while, only their panting filled the air of their bedroom as they came down from their high.

The sheets were gross from where Jongin had dirtied them with his orgasm, and it only got worse when Kyungsoo pulled out, his load spilling from Jongin’s hole when Jongin tensed up. But Kyungsoo only crashed down beside him, pulling Jongin into his arms to press a soft kiss to the top of his head. They were going to clean up eventually before falling asleep, but for now, nothing could stop him from savouring the moment with his boyfriend that he absolutely adored.

When Jongin fell asleep that night, he wondered when his life had turned into a romance novel.

The following morning, Jongin woke up to an empty spot in bed next to him. The side on which Kyungsoo usually slept was cold, so it had to have been a while since the other had left the bed. For an awful moment, Jongin wondered if he’d just dreamed up everything that happened the previous night. But then, he could feel the ache in his bones and he saw the new bed sheets, and he knew that it hadn’t been a dream after all.

"Soo?" He called out, voice still sleepy. Although he didn’t want to get up just yet, the fact that Kyungsoo didn’t reply to him or show up in the doorframe even after he called for him a second time left a sinking feeling in his gut. He had half a mind to throw on a new pair of briefs before he tapped into the hallway of Kyungsoo’s flat where they’d decided to stay for the night.

He half expected to find Kyungsoo in the kitchen, but besides the hint of coffee in the air, the room was empty. It surprised him, because usually it was Kyungsoo who preached that breakfast was an important meal in the day and he loved to prepare some for the both of them. However, the kitchen was empty, and with it, Jongin’s confusion rose.

Jongin ended up finding Kyungsoo in his office. The door was left slightly ajar, so when he carefully pushed it open to glance inside, Kyungsoo looked up from where he was rapidly typing something into his computer.

"Hey... Soo." Closing the door behind himself, Jongin wasn’t sure what exactly was going on. Of course he’d seen Kyungsoo write before, he’d even lounged in the living room on his couch multiple times while Kyungsoo had been holed up in his office, but never before had he been up that early just to work on his story.

"Oh, Nini... I didn't know you were up already." Kyungsoo was wearing glasses, something that only happened when he was at home and not out and about with Jongin even though Jongin had told him countless times that he looked absolutely sexy in them. For some reason, Kyungsoo was convinced that they made him look cute, so Jongin had set it his goal to show him that whenever he wore them and he was around, he was ready to climb him like a tree. 8am in the morning, however, wasn’t the time for that though.

"Why are  _ you  _ up?" He returned the question instead. "It's like... 8am on a Sunday. You have the day off."

Scratching his head, Kyungsoo looked down at the computer and then back to Jongin. "Oh, I was writing." He explained as if that would explain everything. "Would you like some coffee?"

Ignoring the question, Jongin had to ask again. "You're writing already?"

Kyungsoo nodded. "Yeah. I woke up early this morning with this idea in my head and I just-" a yawn interrupted his words, "for weeks, I couldn't find the right way to solve this plot issue. It's been irking me, because whatever I tried, it didn't work out. Every idea was crap, and at some point, I wanted to throw my laptop against the wall."

"I didn't know you were struggling with your writing."

"Oh, it's normal, Jongin. It's not the first time I've had this, but it wasn't pleasant either way."

"So what made you suddenly come up with the solution?"

"I don't know. Actually, I think I do know." Kyungsoo laughed quietly, more to himself than because of the situation being particularly funny. "You're like a muse, Jongin. There's just something about you that's- inspiring me. When you read the book, you'll know. The main character, he resembles you a lot. I didn't want it to happen because I wasn't sure if you'd feel comfortable but no matter how often I tried to rewrite scenes, change up little details, I always kept going back to the original cause it made so much more sense. It just has a different feel to it."

"Your muse?" If the pounding of his heart could get any louder, Jongin didn’t doubt that Kyungsoo would be able to hear it. Just the thought of Kyungsoo considering him being something like his muse, someone that  _ inspired _ him- the thought left him a little lightheaded.

Kyungsoo seemed to take Jongin’s surprised question the wrong way though, embarrassment flashing over his features for a second.

"Yeah. I know it probably sounds totally cliché, and I guess it is. But I can't help but be inspired. Last night- I guess something must have clicked inside of my head, because when I woke up I knew exactly what to write. I haven't felt like this in months."

Jongin wasn’t sure if he was supposed to just take this lightly. On one hand, he still felt flattered that Kyungsoo had literally just called him his muse, on the other he wished that the other would put more trust in him and tell him about the things that bothered him.

"Wow. I didn't know you were struggling like that." Crossing the room, he sat down on the armchair close to Kyungsoo’s desk. Behind him, the shelves filled with novels and books filled with hand-written notes were looming over him, containing so many secrets and stories that Jongin couldn’t even begin to fathom them.

The fact that Kyungsoo hadn’t told him about his issues were bugging him a little. Here he’d been, constantly opening up to Kyungsoo about how anxious and nervous the entrance exam performance made him, and yet, Kyungsoo hadn’t really disclosed his feelings about his current struggle to write to him. It hurt a little, so he was hoping for Kyungsoo to have a proper explanation for it.

As it seemed, Kyungsoo had also realized that he’d made a mistake. There was a softness in his eyes that Jongin only knew from when Kyungsoo felt sorry or slightly upset about something, and only that notion already made him feel a little more relieved. At least, the other hadn’t really done it on purpose then.

"I didn't want to tell you about it cause you were so stressed yourself. I probably should have, I'm sorry." Kyungsoo explained. "I do want to know if you're struggling with something, so I should treat you the same way. I guess it's hard for me sometimes. A writer that doesn't write... it doesn't feel right." A humourless laugh escaped him, and instantly, Jongin wanted to reach out and take his hand and tell him that it was okay. He didn’t though, instead folding his legs.

"I think that's more common than one would expect."

Kyungsoo agreed. "It is, but it still sucks to admit it. It's not like I don't want to write. I just can't."

"But now you can." It was a statement more than a question even though it was only an assumption of Jongin.

A small smile spread across Kyungsoo's lips, and he looked satisfied. It suited him, Jongin though. "Yes, now I can."

"Hmm... Being a muse does sound pretty cool." Even now, Jongin still hadn’t gotten over the ‘being inspiring’ thing. Just the thought of Kyungsoo incorporating him into his books, taking his essence and making something new out of it made him feel a little breathless.

"I guess it does." Kyungsoo smiled. He rolled back with his hair a little, stretching his arms. Jongin was about to consider climbing into his lap after all when the growling of his stomach interrupted his train of thought.

"Do you want to have breakfast, or will that interrupt your writing flow?" He asked with a sheepish grin instead.

"Do you want to make breakfast?"

At that, Jongin ummed and erred. "I was hoping you could..." He trailed off, sending Kyungsoo a hopeful look that was only returned with a teasing raise of an eyebrow.

"Mhm... Alright.” Kyungsoo hummed after a beat of silence, and Jongin triumphed.

“Just let me finish writing this paragraph."

"Okay, I think I can live with that." Jongin grinned, already getting up to prepare some of the stuff that Kyungsoo probably would need to make a decent breakfast. Just when he was about to leave the room, he turned around again, catching Kyungsoo who’d been watching him.

"Hey Soo."

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me about your story during breakfast now? And the issues that you finally solved?"

Kyungsoo, who’d just reached out for the keyboard again, smiled.

"There's nothing I'd rather do, Nini."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to know your thoughts and feelings about the last chapter and the ending by leaving Kudos and comments. If you like my writing, you can check out a hybrid Kaisoo fic I wrote [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19373059/chapters/46094881) and another fic where Kaisoo is one of the main ships [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975830/chapters/39898584).  
> As usual, of course I already have a moodboard for the final chapter. You can find it [here](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1181168749568757762?s=09)!  
> Once again, thank you for giving this story so much love, it means the world to me.

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think so far? Please let me know by leaving Kudos or comments, I really appreciate your feedback and it makes my day! Also, if you're interested in some of my wips and moodboards, you can follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper). You can find a moodboard for this AU [here](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1093926730363031553)!
> 
>  
> 
> .


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